I hope ‘my brother’ Anthony Smith will get title shot, ‘even whether it is towards me’
To be clear, new UFC gentle heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill desires his first title protection to be towards Jiri Prochazka, but when the timing doesn’t work out, he’d welcome a battle along with his “brother,” Anthony Smith.
In any case, Hill and Smith originally were slated to meet March 11 till the battle was scrapped in December instantly following Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev preventing to a draw at UFC 282. As a result of that matchup did not ship a brand new 205-pound champ, the UFC turned to Hill and Glover Teixeira for a vacant title battle this previous weekend at UFC 283, which Hill dominated to grow to be the primary Dana White’s Contender Sequence alum to earn UFC gold.
Once more, Prochazka, the person who needed to relinquish the belt Hill scooped up, is who “Candy Goals” prefers first and foremost, however there are questions on his timeline to return from a shoulder damage.
So what about Smith, who was tabbed because the UFC 283 backup fighter?
“Nothing can be happier for my brother to get an opportunity at gold, even whether it is towards me,” Hill advised MMA Junkie. “He’s been round for a very long time. He’s been working. He had the hiccup the place he broke his ankle, one thing that was out of his management. Other than that, he’s been killing it. He put away like three straight contenders, up-and-coming guys, hungry guys.”
These three wins in a row have been towards Devin Clark, Jimmy Crute and Ryan Spann, however that was earlier than Smith misplaced his most up-to-date bout towards Ankalaev final July at UFC 277. In the course of the second-round TKO, Smith suffered a broken ankle.
Nonetheless, the UFC gave Smith the chance to again up the title battle between Hill and Teixeira on 4 weeks’ discover. Though Smith finally wasn’t wanted, he failed to make championship weight at UFC 283.
Smith beforehand fought for the UFC gentle heavyweight title in 2019 when he lost a unanimous decision to Jon Jones at UFC 235. Hill, who’s associates with Smith and trained with him ahead of UFC 283, hopes lacking weight doesn’t have an effect on his probability at a second title shot.
“They didn’t precisely give him essentially the most period of time,” Hill stated. “I feel they introduced it as much as him, talked about, ‘Hey, we may most likely use someone as a backup.’ Then they didn’t formally make him the backup till Christmas or one thing like that. He was heavy, you recognize what I imply? Simply wasn’t sufficient time. …
“I hope they wouldn’t maintain that weight miss towards him simply due to the kind of discover he had. Plus (he was) coming off an damage, too. Folks discuss in regards to the weight lower. Dude, he simply broke his f*cking ankle. (He was) coming off the sofa from an damage.”
The best way issues labored out, Smith’s presence in Rio de Janeiro ended up benefiting Hill, which he’s grateful for.
“Tremendously,” Hill stated of Smith serving to him earlier than preventing Teixeira. “Him within the again earlier than the battle, simply speaking, simply ensuring my head was degree and understanding and being prepared for simply the second. He helped rather a lot with that. He stated the whole lot and introduced the whole lot. He was on level.”