When Anthony Smith was just one head nod away from becoming the light heavyweight champion but chose not to
UFC vet Anthony Smith was once just an affirmation away from becoming the light heavyweight champion. In the most high-profile fight of his career, Smith faced the then-205-pound champion Jon Jones at UFC 235 in March 2019.
While Jones dominated Smith over five rounds and imposed himself on the Texas native, there was a moment during the fourth screen when Jones landed a knee on his opponent's head. Due to Smith being grounded at the time, the knee was considered illegal, and the referee noted that it was also intentional.
Watch the video below:
As a result, Smith was granted a few minutes to recover and had the option of refusing to continue fighting, which would have made him the new light heavyweight champion via disqualification. However, Smith opted to continue, and the referee deducted two points from Jones for that round.
Eventually, Jones got his hand raised via unanimous decision and Smith was lauded for his grit as a fighter. In a recent video uploaded to YouTube, UFC icon Chael Sonnen recalled Smith's refusal to win the title via DQ and said:
"The time that he was one head motion away from becoming world champion and beating Jon Jones. That is not an exaggeration by me... To this day, I'm not sure if he's aware that he would've answered a question the referee asked the opposite of the way that he answered it, he would've been world champion. I'm not sure he knows."
Catch Chael Sonnen's comments below (2:46):
When Daniel Cormier discussed Anthony Smith refusing to take a DQ win against Jon Jones
Last year, Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan spoke about the Jon Jones vs. Anthony Smith title fight. During their conversation, 'DC' explained why he thought Smith should've taken the DQ win after Jones' illegal knee.
On an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Cormier pointed out that Smith could've financially benefitted from becoming the light heavyweight champion and should not have let his pride come in the way. He said:
"That’s when Anthony was like, ‘You know what, man, if I just sit here, and I don’t do this no more, there’s a possibility for me to get all this money and come back as the champ’ – and then his pride got in the way."
Cormier continued:
"And he got up there and he finished the fight. He was down three rounds to one at that time, and he fought, and I thought it was a mistake because he took an illegal knee. It is what it is. Jones got deducted a point and still won the fight comfortably. That’s how much he was ahead. He got a two-point deduction, and still won." [H/T MMAJunkie.usatoday.com]
Watch Daniel Cormier's full interview with Joe Rogan below: