Michael Bisping says Anthony Smith is 'daring to be great' with short notice fight (Video)

UFC president Dana White announced that Anothy Smith would be stepping up on short notice to face Khalil Rountree Jr. after his UFC Austin opponent pulled out of their bout. The fight was moved to the UFC APEX fight night one week later and will take place on Dec. 9 at UFC Vegas 83.

The move had a few fans raising their eyebrows, but one person not shocked by the short notice fight is Smith's podcast co-host and former UFC champion Michael Bisping.

“He’s rolling the dice, he’s daring to be great, he’s stepping up on short notice,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Khalil Rountree is the real deal. He’s a tough guy. He’s got big power.”

Rountree is on a four fight win streak, with three of those being finishes, his latest was a first-round KO of Chris Daukaus in August. Smith is coming off a split decision win over Ryan Spann, also in August.

“You’ve got to favor Anthony in that,” Bisping said of who the more well-rounded fighter was. “He’s fought better competition, he’s been around longer, he’s got bags of experience. I think striking-wise, he can more than handle himself on the feet against Khalil."

Smith has fought huge names such as Jon Jones, Magomed Ankalaev and Glover Teixeira, to name a few.

“In the grappling department, I think Anthony is leaps and bounds ahead of him. But hey, it’s a fight. He’s stepping up on short notice. I’m assuming he’s been in the gym, and he’s been training otherwise he wouldn’t do it. Anthony takes his career very seriously.”

The pair will serve as the co-main event for a fight which was originally slated for Shanghai, China but changed to Las Vegas at the last minute.