Anthony Smith puzzled he was underdog against Jimmy Crute at UFC 261

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Anthony Smith can’t fathom how he wasn’t the favorite entering his 51th professional fight.

The former light heavyweight title challenger was a bit puzzled on how the oddsmakers had him an underdog for his UFC 261 bout against Jimmy Crute on Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla. Smith beat Crute with a first-round TKO when the cageside doctors didn’t allow Crute to enter the second round due to an injury caused by Smith’s leg kicks.

Having four times the amount of professional fights as Crute, Smith (35-16 MMA, 10-6 UFC) was surprised to see his opponent enter UFC 261 as the favorite.

“You see all the predictions, pundits and fans online, and they really thought he was going to smoke me – like it wasn’t going to be competitive,” Smith told reporters at the UFC 261 post-fight news conference. “I just didn’t see it going like that. I’ve been in this game for 15 years. I had 30 professional fights before Jimmy Crute (began fighting).

“It’s not like he’s going to come in there and blow me out out the water, including when Jon Jones was here. (Jones) didn’t dust me, didn’t blow me out of the water or make me look like I don’t belong.”

It was a competitive affair in the first round. Smith certainly dished out damage, but Cute had success in the grappling department late in the fight. Either way, Smith knew that the fight was over well before it was stopped.

Smith connected with a leg kick that caused damage on Crute’s stability and he was unable to plant his feet. Crute kept rolling his left ankle when trying to put pressure on the leg. Despite the injury, Crute was able to get the fight to the ground and work from there. It seemed that there was some hope for the Australian, but Smith said he knew the fight was over.

“I didn’t expect him to get back up,” Smith said. “As fighters, you know when there’s a hard, hard leg kick, and I really sunk that in there, and then his reaction right away.

“I thought when he got back up, he wouldn’t be able to stand, so credit to him – he lasted longer than I thought he was going to. Even in those grappling exchanges, he still fought through. I figured once we sat down, I was kind of not paying attention to what my coaches were saying because there was no way he was going to come out for that second round.”

Now on a two-fight winning streak, Smith plans to take some time off and return in the fall.

“If I can avoid fighting in the summer, then I will,” Smith said. “If a great opportunity pops up that I can’t turn down, then I will take it. But I’d like to take the summer off, continue working back and forth to Denver and just continue to get better. I need to do a better job at skill building in between fights, so that’s my plan right now.”