UFC star Anthony Smith has spoken out about an alleged incident that occurred between his family and Dan Bilzerian.
Smith – a.k.a. 'Lionheart' – took on two-time champion Jon Jones at the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in 2019.
While Smith was defeated by Jones in round five, it's not the professional loss he's remained bitter about all these years later, but an incident that occurred outside of the ring involving Armenian-American poker player and social media influencer Dan Bilzerian.
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Speaking on an episode of the Believe You Me podcast recored on 23 May, Smith claimed his family were kicked out of their seats during the fight by Bilzerian and fellow mixed martial artist Donald Cerrone a.k.a. 'Cowboy'.
He said: "My mom, my wife, my manager’s mom, and two other people in my group are sitting front row. I’m in the Octagon and Jon Jones is making his way to the Octagon.
"Whilst this is happening, Dan Bilzerian and Donald Cerrone removed my mum and my wife from their seats. I was f*****g furious. If I had seen Dan Bilzerian, because I had found out about it right after I got to the back, I would have torn his head off.
"They want to sit down and watch the fight, but they’re f*****g hammered, like just s**thouse drunk. So, they tell [Smith's mum and wife] that those are their seats."
Smith went on to explain how his mum didn't know Bilzerian and had only heard of Cerrone because of his shared profession with Smith.
He said: "She just knows that these are her seats and she’s about to watch her son fight for a world title.
"My wife knows of Donald but she doesn’t know him. She doesn’t know who this short, tight shirt, funky a** hat-wearing jerk is [Bilzerian]."
Smith noted his anger was mainly targeted at Bilzerian because the influencer was reportedly watching porn on his phone during the fight, rather than watching the action going on inside the ring.
Smith stated: "Dan ends up being next to my mom, and then during the fight, he's watching porn on his phone. Like, during the fight, he’s sitting there watching porn.
"My mom’s super uncomfortable, she’s weirded out. She’s a quiet lady, real shy. It was just a whole f*****g ordeal."
Smith is next set to enter the ring with Magomed Ankalaev on 30 July in Dallas, Texas.
So far, Smith has a total of 36 wins, 16 losses and zero draws under his belt.
Ankalaev has amassed 17 wins, one loss and zero draws.
Poppy Bilderbeck