Former top light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith returns to action on the 18th of September against Ryan Spann at UFC Vegas 37. A veteran of the sport, Anthony Smith will look to extend his current two-fight win streak hoping to earn another title shot.

On the other hand, currently holding the number eleven rank in the light heavyweight division, Ryan Spann recently had a solid outing against Misha Cirkunov, earning a first-round knockout via punches.

The Dana White contender series alumni made his UFC debut back in 2017. After suffering a loss the first time around, Spann went on an impressive five-fight winning streak. Interestingly, this will be Ryan Spann’s first main event, that too against a veteran of the sport, who is more than comfortable fighting on the big stage.

Oddly enough, in a promo video shoot for their upcoming bout, Ryan Spann seemed riled up and visibly agitated with his opponent. And in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, an unfazed, Anthony Smith made the following statement regarding Spann’s attempt at trash-talking him.

“I don’t know. What a nerd. I just laughed at it the whole time. Like, what are you so mad about? It sounds a lot of like trying to convince himself, you know? Its sounds like a bunch of shit that’s bothering him. And he’s got to convince himself. And then at the end, he hit me with the old ‘Watchmen’ Quote, ‘I’m not locked in there with you, you’re locked in there with me’. Get out of here, you f***g dork.”  

Despite all the jokes, Anthony Smith says he isn’t looking past Ryan Spann at all. ‘Lionheart’ will hope to make a bold statement against ‘Superman’ come fight night. However, if he doesn’t manage to get the job done, Smith will find himself getting pushed further down the ladder.

Read Top Stories First From EssentiallySports

Click here and check box next to EssentiallySports

ALSO READ: Paulo Costa Mocks Israel Adesanya in Latest Social Media Post

What’s next for Anthony Smith?

Back in 2019, Anthony Smith finally got a shot against the reigning champion, Jon Jones. Although ‘Lionheart’ couldn’t get his hands raised that night, he certainly exposed flaws in Jone’s game. However, since then, the 33-year-old has run into a few bumps.

Although a veteran of the sport, Smith has shown he still has quite a few things to learn. In his fight against Glover Teixeira, he was callously looking for the finish right from the start. This caused him to gas out early on, only to barely survive a brutal onslaught from Teixeira for the rest of the fight.

Nevertheless, Anthony Smith is now on a two-fight win streak, and if he can get past Ryan Spann in spectacular fashion, we will most likely see him take on a top-five opponent next.

What do you think? What’s next for Anthony Smith? Let us know in the comments.

Watch This Story: Top 5 Records Held by Anderson Silva in the UFC