Anthony Smith reacts to news of Jon Jones matchup

By Tom Taylor - January 6, 2019

Last night UFC President Dana White told TMZ that Jon Jones will return to the cage at UFC 235 on March 2, where he will attempt the first title defense of his latest reign as UFC light heavyweight champion against streaking contender Anthony Smith — provided he can attain licensure from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).

Anthony Smith

Not long after this news surfaced, Anthony Smith took to Twitter with this first reaction to the fight.

Retweeting TMZ’s report on the fight, Smith kept it short and sweet.

“There’s two types of men in this world…” he said, seemingly comparing Jones’ controversial career to his own squeaky-clean record.

Jon Jones last fought on December 29, in the main event of UFC 232, when he defeated Alexander Gustafsson by third-round TKO to claim the vacant UFC light heavyweight title. Prior to this fight, several drug tests detected trace amounts of the banned substance turinabol in Jones’ system, but not enough to derail the fight. The NSAC, however, refused to license Jones for the fight, which caused the UFC to move the entire UFC 232 card to LA.

Prior to this chaotic return to action, Jones was out for over a year thanks to a 15-month suspension administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. This suspension stemmed from a UFC 214 fight with Daniel Cormier. This fight originally registered as a knockout win for Jones, but was overturned when it was announced that turinabol had been detected on a pre-fight drug test.

Anthony Smith, meanwhile, last fought in late October, when he submitted Volkan Oezdemir in the third round in the UFC Moncton main event. With this win, he improved to 3-0 as a light heavyweight, having also bested former champs Rashad Evans and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua by knockout.

Who do you think will come out on top when Anthony Smith and Jon Jones do battle at UFC 235?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 1/6/2019.


Topics:

Anthony Smith Jon Jones UFC UFC 235.