Fighter On Fighter! Breaking Down ‘Lionheart!’

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight title challenger, Anthony Smith, will throw down opposite up-and-coming knockout artist, Aleksandar Rakic, this Saturday (Aug. 29, 2020) at UFC Vegas 8 inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Earning a nickname like “Lionheart” is not a fun process. Smith struggled for roughly six years to really get his footing the mixed martial arts (MMA) world before finally being able to catch some momentum and put together consistent wins. However, Smith managed to keep his foot to the floor, climbing all the way to a Light Heavyweight title shot over a decade into his career. His loss to Jon Jones was a bad one, but Smith remained in the title hunt anyway. Unfortunately, Glover Teixeira once again gave him an opportunity to demonstrate his toughness, smashing Smith so badly that he was forced the hand the referee his teeth and deal with controversy regarding the stoppage.

Smith will now attempt to rebound from that defeat just three months later. Let’s take a closer look at his skill set:

Striking

Smith’s kickboxing is very classic Muay Thai. Smith throws short, hard combinations of hooks and crosses, usually punctuated with a power kick or knee.

Most of Smith’s focus is offensive. Even with his recent improvements, Smith is no defensive wizard. Despite loving to kick himself, Smith generally does not react to being kicked all that well. Often, Smith’s problems arise when he forgets to feint, leaving his easier to counter. In truth, Smith is generally willing to take a shot to deliver one of his own.

Smith really does commit to doing damage above all else. Much of the time, Smith is stalking, looking to land any of his eight limbs depending on the distance. In some of his recent wins, however, Smith has been attacking well on the counter. Opposite “Shogun” Rua, for example, Smith was more willing than usual to give up ground. As Rua advanced with his guard high, Smith stabbed at him with jabs and left hooks (GIF). “Lionheart” was truly making the most of his significant reach advantage … and Rua did not like it one bit. “Shogun” tried to pressure Smith into the fence — not a bad strategy — but he over-reached on his right hand. More than that, Rua was too eager to trade with Smith, likely a result of his probing shots from range.

Rua found himself stunned in the following exchange, and Smith swarmed violently (GIF).

Smith was unable to escape with such a clean victory against Oezdemir, but “Lionheart” certainly landed from his back foot. In that fight — and many others — Smith committed quite a bit to the check hook. It cost him some feeling on his lead leg due to getting kicked while pivoting, but Smith did manage to angle off and land some hard shots using the check hook opposite “No Time.”

Offensively, Smith tends to work one or two strikes at a time unless flurrying. Though he really doesn’t work hard to maintain range, Smith will pop the occasional jab. It’s a spearing strike, one intended to do damage more than set other punches. Once that’s established though, Smith does find better success with his lead left hook, and he’ll also slip to load up a lead hand uppercut. Something Smith does on occasion is drop to the mid-section with his left hook, which is definitely a strike he should rely on more often given his strategy of wearing down foes.

More often, Smith leads with the cross. Depending on his objective, Smith will either step deep into a full power cross (usually followed by a left kick/knee) or hang back and flick the cross, looking to draw his foe forward)

Smith’s hands primarily serve to set up his kicks, which really help wear his foe down. In particular, Smith is fond of chopping at his opponents’ lead legs as they back off from his long punches, a helpful habit in winning wars of attrition.

Smith’s body kicks are a great weapon, and his set ups are very classic Muay Thai. Usually, it’s the left hook-right body kick or cross-left body kick. In addition, Smith has been more active with his front kick straight up the middle. That’s a strike Smith could use more of: a long distance, reasonably safe blow that directly attacks the gas tank and happens to pair well with his cross. Smith will also fire knees from this distance with similar setups to his body kicks. That’s a product of his height, as Smith can hit opponents from far away and reach the chin easily thanks to his long limbs.

Smith will also fire high kicks off the left hook and right cross, but lately his best head kicks have come at the end of flurries. Once Smith gets his foe moving backward away from his long punches, Smith will run his foe into the fence and cap off the combination with a hard high kick.

Elbows are the last major piece of Smith’s offense. Generally, Smith is looking for his right elbow, usually setting it up with a left hand frame/jab at range or on the break of the clinch. Against Elvis Mutapcic, Smith scored his first UFC knockout by latching onto the single-collar tie with his left hand when Mutapcic punched. Mutapcic tried to circle away from the tie to escape, but he moved directly into a fight-finishing right elbow instead.

Opposite Teixeira, Smith’s striking strategy was strange. He threw a lot more volume and combinations than usual. On paper, that doesn’t sound like a bad thing, but Smith definitely fatigued from his own output. Teixeira was then able to more easily find the pocket, where his own clubbing power punches found their mark with an unpleasant consistency.

Wrestling

Smith is not much of an offensive wrestler — he generally only goes to the shot when being swarmed — but his defense has definitely been called into question many times. For much of his career, Smith’s bad combination of flat-footed stance, height, and lack of feints resulted in many easy takedowns for his opponents.

Still, there has been definite improvement. First and foremost, Smith does a better job of bending his knees. Length is great, but looking down at an opponent is poor positioning. In his last few fights, Smith has done a better job of working from eye level with his foes, which makes defending the takedown far easier.

One thing Smith does very well in use the overhook in the clinch. Whenever he’s able to stop a shot or simply faced with a clinch attempt, Smith will weigh heavily on at least one overhook and get his hips back. As his opponent moves forward to close that newly created gap, Smith will meet his mid-section with a hard knee. Usually, that saps his opponent’s will to grapple, allowing Smith to cut an angle and escape the clinch.

From that overhook in the clinch, Smith can move to a position called the “A Frame.” Using the overhook (or ideally, an underhook), Smith can use one arm to deny the takedown and the other to frame on the face/chin. This creates a very strong position, one that makes it easy to land knees or reverse his opponent into the fence (GIF).

Even against Jon Jones, Smith was able to stall quite a few takedown attempts in the clinch.

In his last pair of wins, Smith actually was active in searching for the reactive takedown. Like most tall strikers, he favored the running double leg. While Oezdemir did initial deny his attempts, they still served the purpose of stalling the Swiss athlete’s offense. Later when Oezdemir was a bit tired, that same running takedown successfully planted “No Time” on his back (GIF). Similarly, Smith waited until Gustafsson was looking a bit more tired to attempt to run him over, but when he did, he landed in a finishing position!

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Like his number of knockout losses, Smith’s five career defeats via tapout are misleading. A pair of those losses came to Roger Gracie and Antonio Braga Neto — two of the best mixed martial arts (MMA) grapplers to ever strap on gloves. More important, Smith hasn’t actually been submitted since 2013.

Offensively, Smith has landed 11 submission wins total, including a wild inverted triangle opposite UFC Middleweight and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Tim Williams.

Smith’s go-to submission is undoubtedly the triangle choke. Given his long legs, Smith only needs a small opportunity to pass an arm through his legs and leave his opponent trapped. Once his foe is caught, Smith can put a ton of leverage into the submission almost immediately.

In Smith’s bout with Oezdemir, both men were able to secure the back mount, but the difference in jiu-jitsu was clear. When in a bad position, Smith calmly controlled a two-on-one grip to limit Oezdemir’s offense/chokes and patiently waited for a chance to stand. Oezdemir, on the other hand, panicked and tried to stand immediately, allowed Smith to hop on his back and lock in the body triangle.

When a fighter with Smith’s lanky body starts squeezing the body triangle, it’s almost too late to defend. Smith finished Alexander Gustafsson in similar fashion, convincing his foe that turning away to stand was a good idea while fatigued.

Another nice piece of jiu-jitsu inside the Octagon came opposite a talented wrestler in Andrew Sanchez. From half guard, Smith reached across his body to isolate Sanchez’s wrist with both hands. Usually, this is the first step to a stand up, but Smith instead pinned that wrist to the mat and bumped with his hips. Sanchez was unable to free his wrist and fell over, resulting in a rather Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira-esque half guard sweep.

Conclusion

Smith may have lost his most recent bout, but hope is not completely lost for fans of “Lionheart.” With Jones vacating the title, Smith actually has a real shot at securing a title shot again! Regardless of whether Reyes or Blachowicz wins, Smith has faced neither man, so a win here puts him right back in the mix.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 8 fight card this weekend, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance on ESPN+ 9 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 8: “Smith vs. Rakic” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

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Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.