Anthony Smith has had a stellar career in the UFC.
After nearly 60 MMA fights, former UFC title challenger Anthony Smith will call it a career at UFC Kansas City this Saturday when he meets Chinese knockout artist Mingyang Zhang.
Smith may not had have the best record in the Octagon at 13-11, but there’s no denying the level of competition he went up against, fighting two current champions in Magomed Ankalaev and Jon Jones, three former champions, two of which Smith brutally knocked out, and five title challengers.
The UFC veteran’s biggest wins came over the likes of Alexander Gustafsson and Volkan Oezdemir by way of submission.
Following his one and only title fight in 2019, all-time great Jon Jones praised Smith, saying he had the the ‘heart of a lion’ for going five rounds with him and choosing not to take the easy way out of their fight.
However, not everyone shares the same opinion of the 36-year-old, with one former world champion questioning if he is worthy of being in the UFC Hall of Fame.
Aljamain Sterling questions if Anthony Smith has done enough for UFC Hall of Fame spot
While ‘Lionheart’ is leaving behind quite the legacy this weekend at UFC Kansas City, former UFC Champion and one of the greatest bantamweights of all time, Aljamain Sterling, weighed-in on whether or not Smith should gain entry to the UFC Hall of Fame for his accomplishments.
“What do you give him hall of fame for, respectively?” Sterling said of Smith on his YouTube channel.
“It’s not 38 wins in UFC,” Sterling said of Smith’s 38-21 pro record.
“He’s had a great run, but I don’t know if it’s [hall of fame worthy].
“Is there a fight that you could give him a hall of fame fight for like they have done with Izzy [Israel Adesanya] and Kelvin Gastelum? Could maybe do something like that, but I don’t know if he has any of those fights.
“But even with that said, I don’t know if it’s enough,” Sterling added.
Aljamain Sterling suggests a different type of recognition for Anthony Smith’s UFC tenure
Over the years, we’ve seen former champion after former champion enter the UFC Hall of Fame.
Owner of several different UFC records, Donald Cerrone is the only non-champion be inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame’s modern wing, leaving many to wonder if we’ll get others of his caliber like Jim Miller added, the UFC’s all-time leader in wins and total fights.
| Mauricio Shogun Rua | Joanna Jedrzejcyzk |
| Frankie Edgar | Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone |
| Khabib Nurmagomedov | Daniel Cormier |
| Georges St-Pierre | Rashad Evans |
| Michael Bisping | Ronda Rousey |
| Urijah Faber | BJ Penn |
| Forrest Griffin |
Sterling’s two cents on what it takes to make the UFC Hall of Fame?
“I almost feel hall of fame should be reserved for champs who go on a run, do spectacular things, maybe go in different weight classes, and they have a really good run there too, where they set a record for defenses and things like that,” Sterling said.
“That makes it special because not anyone could get in.
“I don’t know if you give Jim Miller, Anthony Smith a Hall of Fame [induction], but I do feel there should be some type of recognition, maybe like a 20 win club or a tenure type of thing.
“If you’ve been with the company over ten years, that means something, but you’re not technically a hall of famer for all your accolades of what you accomplished,” Sterling explained.
“It feels kinda wrong because they did accomplish something, but I think the ultimate accomplishment is becoming a champ.
“Do you give him a UFC hall of fame shot from that?” Sterling said of Smith’s 13-11 UFC record. “I don’t know. I’m trying to be fair…”
In contrast to Anthony Smith, Aljamain Sterling’s likely a shoo-in for the UFC Hall of Fame in the near future, having successfully defended his bantamweight title against Petr Yan, TJ Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo.