When Anthony Smith shared unpopular opinion on Islam Makhachev’s win over Dustin Poirier at UFC 302

Anthony Smith once shared an unpopular opinion when Islam Makhachev was booked to fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 last year. Many fans and analysts believed the fight would be easy for Makhachev to win, as he would dominate Poirier with his ground game. But, Smith believed Poirier wouldn't be as easy for Makhachev as people thought.

Speaking on the ESPN MMA panel, Smith asserted Makhachev was a different type of fighter than Khabib Nurmagomedov, which would give Poirier more chances to hurt the Russian. He said:

"I love the matchup I don't know that it's as cookie cutter as maybe everyone wants to make it seem because there was the Khabib fight with Dustin Poirier. I think that Islam is more willing to engage in more areas than Khabib was. I think that Islam's a better fighter. But, I think his style gives Dustin Poirier more opportunities to be successful. If DP can land something big early and get Islam to back off a little bit."

He added:

"They're different types of wrestlers in terms of Islam and Khabib, they're different types of strikers and I think that Dustin is very, very dangerous on his feet and Islam has already acknowledged that. You know he's cracking jokes that he's not going to get that Guillotine on him. I think this fight is much closer than a lot of people are giving the credit for and I think that Dustin Poirier knows this is probably his last opportunity to win undisputed gold and I think we're going to see the best Dustin Poirier."

Check out Anthony Smith's comments below (1:15):

The fight ended up being exactly like Smith predicted, with Poirier giving Makhachev a hard time inside the octagon. Poirier hurt the Russian on multiple occasions and cut him during the fight, but Makhachev eventually secured a submission victory in the fifth round.

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Anthony Smith thanks UFC in his first post-retirement statement at UFC Kansas City

Anthony Smith issued a statement after his loss to Zhang Mingyang in his final UFC fight at UFC Kansas City on Saturday (April 26). Mingyang proved to be the better fighter on the night and finished Smith by knockout in the first round.

'Lionheart' thanked the UFC and the fans for their support over the years. He wrote:

"That’s a wrap! Congrats to Zhang. The LHW division is on notice. You’re gonna have a great career. Thank you to all the people who have supported me all these years. I was never good enough to make it this far…I’m just really happy that it all happened. Thank you to the UFC for saving my life."

Check out Anthony Smith's Instagram post below:

Smith made his UFC debut in 2013 and competed 25 times in the octagon, winning 13 fights. He also challenged for the light heavyweight title and lost to Jon Jones at UFC 235.