Anthony Smith agrees to fight Shogun Rua at UFC Hamburg

[La Paix]

When the UFC bookedVolkan Oezdemir to fight Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 227 in August, it left Mauricio Rua without an opponent for the UFC Hamburg main event later this month. Thankfully, it looks as if the solution has already been found.

ESPN’s Ariel Helwani and MMAjunkie both reported on Monday that Anthony Smith has agreed to step in on short notice and take on the former light heavyweight champion. This is the first time that Smith has headlined a UFC event.

Smith (29-13) was campaigning to fight on the UFC Lincoln card in his home state of Nebraska, and was even willing to accept a heavyweight bout, but for now his next stop is in Germany. He’s coming off a 53-second KO of the newly retired Rashad Evans at UFC 225 in June. “Lionheart” has won four of his last five, all by knockout, and the victory against Evans marked the longtime middleweight’s debut at 205 lbs.

Anthony Smith agrees to fight Shogun Rua at UFC Hamburg

 

[Dick Niaz]

Nice! I hadn't seen this reported yet. I didn't care much about Volkan/Rua and was much happier to see Volkan/Gus. Still, I'm glad Shogun isn't left without an opponent, and since Smith wasn't getting any traction on his plea to fight in Nebraska, I'm glad he is at least getting the payday and main event exposure.

 

[SensoriaUtopia]

I love this. Last thing I wanted to see is Shogun get badly ko'd by Volkan. This fight makes more sense, Anthony is on a win streak but he is not on Volklans level and I think Shogun wins and beats him in a finish. FoSho

 

[member 3289]

Is Smith gonna retire another fighter?

 

[member 1013]

Is Smith gonna retire another fighter?

Another former champ

Champ killah

 

[member 3289]

Another former champ

Champ killah

Another Bellator-bound 40 year old