Anthony Smith says Israel Adesanya reminds him of "recent" Jon Jones, agrees Jared Cannonier "creates an interesting problem" for the champion
Anthony Smith recently discussed the evolution of Israel Adesanya's fighting style inside the octagon. He suggested the UFC middleweight champion has started fighting safely instead of taking chances, which reminded him of Jon Jones.
While in conversation with Michael Bisping on the latest edition of the Believe You Me podcast, Smith recalled Adesanya's recent fights. He declared that 'The Last Stylebender' has been taking fewer risks and using his distance management skills to ensure that he does enough to emerge victorious from each scrap.
'Lionheart' further admitted that this was similar to the style that Jon Jones appeared to adopt in his last couple of fights. He went on to draw parallels between Jones of the past and the present.
Keeping Adesanya's recent run inside the octagon in mind, Smith opened up about his prospects in a fight against the likely next challenger to the middleweight throne, Jared Cannonier.
"I think Jared Cannonier creates an interesting problem for [Israel Adesanya], especially given his last couple of fights. [Adesanya's] fighting very safe, intelligent. He reminds me a lot of [Jon Jones]," Michael Bisping said, "The recent Jon," Smith continued. "Yes. I mean, he's shutting people down. He's almost, you know, it's like he's become, 'Okay, but I'll just be, I'm just gonna stay a little bit ahead.' Old Jon used to chase s**t and he's super dynamic and would do a bunch of crazy s**t."
Check out Anthony Smith's interaction with Michael Bisping right here:
Smith went on to suggest 'The Last Stylebender' used to take more chances earlier. However, he refused to use this reason as an excuse to criticize the middleweight champion, as he is still winning fights consistently.
Anthony Smith believes Israel Adesanya's safe style won't work against Jared Cannonier
In the wake of his second-round TKO win against Derek Brunson at UFC 271, Jared Cannonier demanded a shot at divisional gold next.
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In the same episode of the Believe You Me podcast, Anthony Smith warned Israel Adesanya against employing a "safe" tactic against 'The Killa Gorilla'.
"I don't think a guy like Cannonier, you're going to be able to just sit back and chill. He's a physical guy. He's big. He's explosive."
He further declared that it was Israel Adesanya getting hit with hard jabs more often than his opponent Whittaker in the main event of UFC 271.
Acknowledging Cannonier's explosive power, Smith argued that the MMA Lab product could shut out Adesanya's lights if he landed a strong jab.