Anthony Smith fires back at 'Juicehead' TJ Dillashaw following 'quitter' comments… 'I don't know what his problem with me is'
07/17/2024 06:42 AM
An intense but extremely unusual feud is building between former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw and former light heavyweight title challenger, Anthony Smith.
TJ Dillashaw emotionally announced recently that he can no longer compete in MMA due to his ongoing shoulder injuries and that he will be stepping away from the sport.
His retirement admission came after reviewing the UFC 303 event and the former bantamweight champion bizarrely fired shots at Anthony Smith, calling him a quitter and wondering where he got the nickname, ‘Lionheart’ because he gives up.
Anthony Smith fires back at T.J. Dillashaw following his ‘disrespectful’ comments
The 35-year-old light heavyweight didn’t take well to Dillashaw’s comments, calling him ‘disrespectful’ and wondering where the bantamweight’s problem came from.
“If he doesn’t believe I’ll ever be champion, that’s totally fine, that’s 100% fine, that’s his opinion,” Smith started on the Believe You Me Podcast.
“It was the talking about ‘He must’ve given himself that nickname’ and that I’m a ‘quitter’ and I ‘give up’, the very personal disrespect part of it… Long story short, I don’t know what his problem with me is,” Smith continued.
The number 11 ranked 205lber went on to admit that he doesn’t know why he allowed Dillashaw’s comments to upset him so much, considering a lot of his career is under scrutiny for EPO usage.
“I know what everyone’s gonna say, ‘T.J. Dillashaw’s more successful than you’… I agree, but I don’t know why I allowed it to upset me so much, why I let someone like T.J. Dillashaw upset me so much.
“Like anybody who has been accused of cheating their entire career and then caught taking performance-enhancing drugs and been a juicehead his entire career and is not in the testing pool so we all know exactly what he’s doing, I don’t know why I would take the opinion of him to heart,” Smith stated.
In 2019, Dillashaw tested positive for EPO following his loss to Henry Cejudo. He was then suspended by USADA for two years.
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Anthony Smith admits he has a good relationship with Alex Pereira
Ahead of his late notice UFC 303 fight against Roman Dolidze, ‘Lionheart’ admitted that he believed the UFC was trying to set up a title fight between him and current light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira.
He and ‘Poatan’ have gone back and forth with each other historically, after Smith claimed that he could beat the sensational star.
Despite that, the 35-year-old recently admitted that although he wasn’t able to hold up his end of the bargain by scoring a win at UFC 303, he and the Brazilian have a good relationship.
“Alex and I have this very cool relationship. I think it’s very, very cool what we have going on. I lost and he won, he’s the champion, maybe there is nothing there, ever. We’re very, I think just competitive in general, but when we’re in person, I thought it was so cool how we have a lot of respect for each other,” Smith admitted on a recent episode of the Believe You Me Podcast.
