Alex Pereira explains origins of Anthony Smith beef: 'It's always something else to discredit me'

29/09/2023 14:00

It doesn't seem like Alex Pereira is inclined to patch things up with Anthony Smith any time soon.

Over the past few months, Pereira and Smith have traded shots through the media, with Pereira calling Smith "washed up" after Smith was critical of his performance against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291. Smith later fired back, saying that if Pereira wanted a rival, he found one.

The feud seemingly emerged out of nowhere, but recently speaking to The MMA Hour, Pereira explained that his issue with Smith has been boiling over for some time.

"The issue is, he has his job with the UFC commentating," Pereira said through a translator. "He's got to do what he's got to do, but we feel that since the beginning, he gives me no credit. For example, I made my debut, I came from Glory, he was like, 'Yeah, he's a Glory kickboxer, but now he's fighting a very tough grappler, [Andreas] Michailidis, he's going to be a wrestler and everything, it's going to be too much of a challenge.' I go and knock the guy out. Then he goes, 'Oh, but that guy he fought wasn't tough. He was a nobody. Now he's going fight Bruno Silva, beat [Alexander] Schlemenko in Russia by knockout, he's a beast, this is going to be too much for him.' I go and beat Bruno Silva, and then that's when [he says with] Sean Strickland... 'Bruno Silva wasn't that tough, but Sean Strickland, he's a challenge right now. It's not going to be good for him.' I go and beat Sean Strickland."

"It's always something [after]," Pereira continued. "'Oh, Sean Strickland, that was not a tough challenge,' and this and that. [He says] 'He's still got to prove himself. Now he has to go fight Adesanya!' I go and beat Adesanya, and then after that, I go up to light heavyweight but [it's], 'He just lost his last fight. He's too small for light heavyweight. He's a tough fight, Blachowicz. He won't pass.' I go and beat [Blachowicz].

"It's always something going on that Anthony doesn't give me the proper credit that I deserve. He kind of hates on me a little bit, instead of going, 'OK, in the beginning, I was wrong. I thought the guy would not get that fight. I was wrong.' He's a commentator. He should try more to win the crowd, not lose them. Bring the people more, be charismatic. Own it. But it's always something else to discredit me for everything, and that's why the beef is there."

If this feud is ever going to be resolved in the cage, it will have to wait. While both men have proposed a grappling match to settle their differences, Pereira now has bigger fish to fry. The former UFC middleweight champion is set to face Jiri Prochazka for the vacant light heavyweight title in the co-main event of UFC 295 on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.