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#5 UFC Light Heavyweight Division: Anthony Smith vs. Devin Clark

Anthony Smith has struggled for traction in the UFC in 2020.

After a tremendous 2019 that saw him push then-UFC Light Heavyweight champ Jon Jones and defeat former UFC title challenger Alexander Gustafsson, things haven’t gone so well for Anthony Smith in 2020.

He looked to be en route to a big TKO win over Glover Teixeira in May, only to run out of steam and succumb to a truly vicious beating from the Brazilian. Most observers – myself included – felt that Smith probably should’ve taken an extended break from the UFC following that loss. But instead, he returned in August and lost again to Aleksandar Rakic.

Sure, Lionheart didn’t take a beating from Rakic, but he definitely didn’t look himself. So given that it’s only been three months since that fight is this too quick of a turnaround for him again? It’s very possible.

Thankfully for him, he’s up against an opponent who is nowhere near as offensively potent as either Teixeira or Rakic. Clark is a strong fighter who’s been in the UFC since 2016. Brown Bear has gone 6-4 in that time, but notably, he’s never finished any of his wins and has been put away in all of his losses.

For the most part, Clark is a brute-force wrestler who looks to rough his opponent up in the clinch and on the ground. Most recently, he was able to bully around prospect Alonzo Menifield, winning the fight by decision.

Clark is a willing striker and a capable grappler, but his defense has definitely been porous throughout his UFC tenure. He’s left himself open for submissions – usually leaving his neck too open – and hasn’t really shown the best striking defense either.

In terms of this fight, Clark is also giving up some height and reach to Smith, who is adept at finding his range to punish his opponent at distance. And more worryingly for Brown Bear, Smith is also highly adept at capitalizing on errors, particularly on the ground, and putting an opponent away.

Overall, Smith should largely be favored here in terms of the styles of the fighters. He’s definitely better offensively, is a far superior grappler, and has more killer instinct standing too. However, given his recent struggles, there is a chance that he ends up fighting flat and finds himself outworked by Clark.

I’m banking on the fact that Clark’s offense isn’t too great to allow Smith enough big moments to win the clash. But in all honesty, it could go either way. Win or lose, Smith probably needs at least a good six months off following the fight.

The Pick: Smith via unanimous decision