Anthony Smith changes tune on Alex Pereira, calls UFC 205-pound champion a "good guy": "He treats all of them [UFC staff] with respect"

Anthony Smith received a lot of criticism from fans and a furious reply from UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira for his comments on the Brazilian's skillset a few weeks ago. While Smith stood by his opinion of Pereira being a fighter with a relatively limited skillset, he recently expressed what he thinks of 'Poatan' as a person.

During a recent interview with Submission Radio, Smith said that Pereira's reputation as the "murderous stone-faced serial killer" is in stark contrast with his actual personality:

"He's fun. He's got a really good sense of humor."

Smith noted that Pereira is a playful person outside the cage and usually has a good time, particularly with his teammate Glover Texeira backstage. He went on to add:

"I don't know him personally but I have been around him enough and watched him interact with people. He is a good guy and everybody in the back likes him. All the UFC staff says that he is really easy to work with, that he is very kind, that he is on time, he does everything that's asked of him."

He added:

"He does everything that's asked of him from the UFC promotionally and from the blue shirts, which is the UFC staff that nobody sees but actually are the wheels that keep this train rolling, he treats all of them [UFC staff] with respect."

Check out Anthony Smith's comments below:

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Anthony Smith admits that despite the pleasant personality, Alex Pereira is a "scary motherf***er" in the cage

Alex Pereira is widely regarded as one of the greatest combat sports athletes in the world for the unparalleled competitive success he has enjoyed in both kickboxing as well as MMA. 'Poatan' has scored eight of his 10 professional MMA victories via T/KO.

He has viciously knocked out some of best MMA fighters in the world, with names like Jiri Prochazka, Sean Strickland, Jamahal Hill and Israel Adesanya, among others, on his hit list. Furthermore, he has also captured UFC gold in two different weight classes.

Speaking further in the aforementioned interview with Submission Radio, Anthony Smith admitted that despite being a good human being, 'Poatan' is still a "scary motherf***er" in the octagon:

"He's a very nice guy and he has got this [serial killer tag]. In ways, he is a f*ng monster. I'm not going to deny that he is not a scary motherf*er when he is in there [UFC octagon]."

Smith is set to compete against Carlos Ulberg in a short-notice fight at UFC 303. During a recent episode of the Believe You Me podcast with Michael Bisping, Smith said that a potential win over Ulberg might get him closer to a title shot against Pereira.