Smith improved or just facing weaker competition?

The Crute TKO was a weird one to say the least. Crute took him down hard with one leg lmao. Spann himself seems to be chinny. Might be the weight cut.
 
I said it in a thread earlier, and I'll say it again in regards to Spann, it was VERY telling when he fought and lost to Walker that this dude not only is Chinny but some of the WORST Fight IQ at LHW as well. Dude fumbled the bag against someone with even WORSE striking defense than him. Smith might be getting better, but Ryan Spann's a headcase of his own.
 
I don't think you ever "improve" after Glover Texeira outstrikes you 100 to 1 in 2 straight round and knocks your teeth out.

Thats a life changing beating.

Not to mention Rakic, a kickboxer, suddenly turned into Khabib when he fought Smith.

But Anthony Smith held his spot and deserves to fight the winner of Santos/Walker.

Though if its Walker I would not be surprised if he opted for someone else as Anthony Smith has been avoiding that fight seemingly for two years.
 
Weaker competition imo, but let’s see how does in a rematch against Rakic.
 
Eh, maybe patched up a few things in his game here and there. But I don't think he's reinvented himself into a world-beater at 205 or anything. After all, we always knew he was a pretty solid gatekeeper. It was his ability to be an elite contender at LHW (much less champ material) that was in question. If you put him up against the Jans and Jiris of the world -- or even a really talented up-and-comer in Ankalaev -- I suspect he would get smacked right back down.

I'd like to see him fight Dominick Reyes. They're right next to each other in the rankings and on opposite trajectories. That would give us a better sense of whether there's actually anything to this supposed "second prime". Reyes also isn't booked and unlike the Rakic callout, isn't someone who just besmirched him a little over a year ago in a complete an absolute shutout of a fight.
 
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I hope the best obviously for Jiri and Rakic and maybe Ankalaev as well. But the rest of the division is very weak. And while Smith is a solid fighter, one shouldn't pretend that he's a world beater. The fact that he and Paul Craig and Glover are taking the division's prospects apart speaks more about the division than about them as fighters.
 
UFCIsNOTRigged said:
I don't think you ever "improve" after Glover Texeira outstrikes you 100 to 1 in 2 straight round and knocks your teeth out.

But good on Anthony Smith holding his spot.
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Glover was in a bad spot career wise himself, at one point he was getting brutally KTFO by Johnson and Gustafsson. People can turn it around.
 
SamuraiBro said:
Weaker competition imo, but let’s see how does in a rematch against Rakic.
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this.
It's kind of like if they put Cerrone or Matt Brown up against unranked fighters again. they'd go on one of those leon edwards/tony ferguson streaks where people would use their highlight reel and win streak to claim that they were easily top 3 and possibly a p4p fighter
 
He’s a top 10 savvy veteran with a solid all around game. He’s the gatekeeper to the top of the division and capable of beating 90% of guys. He’s definitely put it together better in recent years, but I don’t think he can beat the very best guys.
 
Smith is a good fighter. He lost to the GOAT, Glover and Rakic. He's still legit top five.

I do think Spann was a keep busy fight but the guy keeps fighting and finishing who they give him. Not sure what else people want from the guy.
 
Spann's chin is not great it seems but I don't think Smith sucks like everybody gives him shit for. I don't know.
 
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