Alex Pereira roasts ‘washed-up’ & 'bitter' Anthony Smith after recent criticism (Video)
By Amy Kaplan
Alex Pereira is holding nothing back.
After the former UFC middleweight champion caught wind of some recent comments by Anthony Smith, Pereira took to his own social media to return fire.
“If there’s one guy doing well and another guy only criticizing, people aren’t stupid,” Pereira said. “They’ll see what’s going on. They’ll see that he’s just a bitter man. The only ones who speak bad about me are Anthony Smith types. Washed-up vets who never amounted to anything, who are still fighting. They’re in a really tight spot or the guy who is still a nobody but those who are already doing well, I don’t see them talking about me, you know? It’s the ones who are beneath me.”
Pereira has recently transitioned into the light heavyweight division, of which Smith is ranked No. 8 and Pereira is ranked No. 3. So it's no wonder that these two are going at one another.
Pereira was responding to Smith reacting to Pereira's first fight at 205 (a split decision win over former champion Jan Błachowicz). Of the showing, Smith said that he was a “fairly normal dude" and no longer the “large, scary monster” he was at 185 pounds.
Clearly, that triggered Pereira.
Alex Pereira says Anthony Smith didn't take weight cutting 'seriously'
The criticism from Pereira goes deeper than just a personal insult.
“I always see him talking, especially about me,” Pereira said. “He talks really bad. I don’t know what he has against me but he criticized other athletes too, saying the athlete didn’t make weight and a guy who in Glover [Teixeira’s] fight in Rio de Janeiro was a backup and the guy didn’t make weight. It shows why he’s not that successful. Because someone who’s going to be a backup fighter, he takes it easy unlike Glover.
Smith was meant to be the backup fighter for Teixeira and Jamahal Hill at UFC 283 but Smith missed weight, later saying he was ill.
“You can see he didn’t take it seriously," Pereira said. "He just didn’t make weight and now today he relishes bashing other athletes because he has no clue what they go through. A commentator who is a fighter knows how tough it is but somehow he chooses not to give them any credit or at least stay silent. He has to put his two cents in because he loves being in the spotlight. He doesn’t show up at the fights. I mean, he likes fighting but doesn’t show up. No one talks about him so he spouts off nonsense just to get some screen time.”
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