UFC London star Paul Craig calls Anthony Smith fight a "no-brainer"

UFC light heavyweight Paul Craig has continued to call for a showdown with divisional rival Anthony Smith.

Back at UFC London earlier this month, Paul Craig extended his unbeaten run to six in the UFC with another incredibly impressive submission win – this time over Nikita Krylov.

The 34-year-old is one of the most unique fighters in the promotion and as a result of his style, it’s near enough impossible to see him in a boring bout.

In the immediate aftermath of the win in the capital, Craig used his post-fight interview to call for a meeting with former title challenger Anthony Smith.

The veteran responded on social media and appeared to be interested but as of this writing, nothing has been announced regarding it actually being booked.

During an interview with BBC Sport, “Bearjew” once again reiterated his desire to stand across the octagon from “Lionheart”.

“It’s a no-brainer. He wants to fight me, and I want to fight him,” Craig said.

“He’s not signed a contract to fight anyone else, and he’s expressed an interest to the UFC about fighting me.”

“Smith said to me: ‘Listen Paul, I really like you and I really like your style – I want to give you this opportunity’, because he came into the UFC and was given the opportunity to fight Rashad Evans, and from that he blew up,” Craig said.

“There’s a mutual respect between us. I like him as a fighter, and I like what he’s done in the sport. We’ve seen him go for the title, he’s one of the top grapplers in the division and he’s still a huge name within the UFC.”

Anthony Smith has been in this game for a long time and after losing three fights in four between 2019 and 2020, which included a defeat at the hands of former champion Jon Jones, many thought he was done at the elite