It was a surprise to me and I think that says a lot of positive things about where Jon Jones is right now in his life. This Saturday at UFC Fight Night 175, Anthony Smith … Aleksandar Rakic entered last night’s UFC on ESPN+ 33 main event contest as a -280 favorite over former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith… That’s when Jones relinquished is 205-pound crown and announced his official move to heavyweight.The former UFC light heavyweight champion explained his decision to vacate his title in a recent social media post.I vacated the light heavyweight championship because I knew my heavyweight goals were going to take some time. UFC on ESPN+ 33 features a battle of light heavyweight contenders as former title challenger Anthony Smith takes on the hard-hitting Aleksandar Rakic in the night’s main event.. Smith (33-15 MMA, 8-4 UFC) is looking to bounce back to form after losing to Glover Teixeira in May in Jacksonville, Fla. FILE - In this March 2, 2019, file photo, Anthony Smith, left, hits Jon Jones in a light heavyweight mixed martial arts title bout at UFC 235 in Las Vegas. Anthony Smith, left, hits Jon Jones in a light heavyweight mixed martial arts title bout at UFC 235 in Las Vegas on March 2, 2019. Jon Jones explains why he vacated title, Anthony Smith lauds him for ‘noble’ decisionPros react to Neil Magny’s victory over Robbie Lawler at UFC Vegas 8Neil Magny defeated Robbie Lawler via unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 8. Still, it’s a move “Bones” needed to make if he wants to dive deep into the life of a heavyweight and plot the second chapter of his legendary MMA career.One fighter who is applauding Jones’ decision to vacate his title and create immediate opportunities for the fighters atop the 205-pound heap is none other than Anthony Smith, who takes on rising light heavyweight challenger Aleksandar Rakic tomorrow night (Sat., Aug. 29, 2020) at UFC Vegas 8 live on Smith, who lost to Jones via unanimous decision back at UFC 235, told “I’m not typically the guy that’s got a whole bunch of nice things to say about Jon Jones, but that’s a noble thing to do,” said Smith ahead of UFC Vegas 8. There’s little rest on the throne,” wrote Jones via Jones has always taken shots at his competition at 205 pounds — mostly because his opponents fire shots at him first — so his decision to vacate his title to help out the other fighters at light heavyweight is pretty surprising. AP Not having Jones in the way is only going to help “Lionheart’s” chances of earning that opportunity sometime in 2021.
I wasn’t going to play games with the contenders and make people fight interim championship belts. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. I wasn’t going to play games with the contenders and make people fight interim championship belts. On Twitter, pro fighters reacted to the bout.UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Rakic results and post-fight analysisMookie Alexander recaps and analyzes everything that happened at UFC VEGAS 8: ‘SMITH VS. RAKIC’.UFC signs then cuts ‘Hard Hitting Hillbilly’ within 24 hoursKevin Croom has been cut by the UFC just 24 hours after signing to fight Alex Caceres at UFC Vegas 8. Prior to that defeat, Smith had gone 4-1 as a UFC light heavyweight after moving up … I vacated the light heavyweight championship because I knew my heavyweight goals were going to take some time.