UFC Fight Night: Aleksandar Rakic aims to ‘pick apart’ Anthony Smith in main event in Las Vegas

Austrian controversially lost his last bout via split decision, but he tells The Independent that he’ll be fighting with the confidence of a man still on a winning streak this Saturday

Aleksandar Rakic is not entering his UFC Fight Night main event against Anthony Smith this Saturday with the mindset of someone who lost their last fight.

That’s because, in the Austrian’s words, he didn’t lose it.

In fact, it is a sentiment shared by many fans. Rakic (12-2) was on a twelve-fight winning streak when the judges controversially gave his last opponent, Volkan Oezdemir, a split-decision victory over ‘Rocket’ in December. That result marked the first time Rakic had stepped in the ring without seeing his hand raised since his very first professional bout in 2011.

“After the last fight, you know, when I went out of the Octagon I didn’t feel like a loser,” the 28-year-old light heavyweight tells The Independent.

“My performance was good and I felt like a winner. This fight, you cannot say it’s a loss; it may be a loss on paper and on the scores, but deep in my feeling and deep in the people, they know who was the real winner. So it was really easy for me to handle that, because I actually didn’t lose that fight.

“You can see what happened after the fight, you know, three months later I got a new contract with the UFC – a six-fight contract – and a couple months later I’ve got now Anthony Smith as an opponent, an even better-ranked opponent than Volkan, main event in Vegas.

“Things talk for themselves, even the UFC know who won that fight, so I’m happy about this and how the UFC treat me.”

This Saturday’s main event at the UFC Apex institute in Las Vegas is a tantalising one, as former light heavyweight title challenger Smith (33-15) also looks to get back in the win column – though his defeat by Glover Texeira last time out was a far cry from the disputable decision Rakic encountered against Oezdemir.

Smith’s strong start in that contest in May came at the expense of all of the American’s energy, and as the fight wore on, a durable Texeira battered ‘Lionheart’, eventually securing a TKO early in the fifth round.

Controversy ensued, however, with many spectators believing the bout should have been stopped long before that point.

UFC light heavyweight Aleksandar Rakic of Vienna, Austria (Getty Images)

“It was a hard fight,” Rakic says of Smith’s last outing. “Smith started the first round very good, then Glover took over. But Smith is a tough opponent, and a true ‘Lionheart’ with a lot of experience – he knows how to handle these situations.

“There was a lot of back-and-forth with the coaches, should they stop the fight? You know, his teeth fell out...

“I wrote somewhere that Anthony said to his coaches to not stop the fight, and of course if I’m in the situation as a coach, he’s preparing for this fight and every second of the fight you have a hope to win – a lucky punch, a submission.

“You never know, you can get beat for five rounds, for four minutes and 52 seconds in the last round and win in the last seconds. I think Anthony was thinking the same. It’s all good, you know. They made their decisions.”

Rakic will be the favourite on Saturday in the eyes of many fans, but he’s wary of looking past an experienced opponent, despite the new, exciting landscape of the division in the aftermath of Jon Jones vacating the light heavyweight title.

“I’m 100 percent focused on Anthony and on my performance on Saturday night,” Rakic tells The Independent. “Smith’s a sneaky, tricky guy. Sometimes he acts like he’s tired, but then he comes back to finish the fight. The key is to be focused and sharp the whole fight and to make him pay for any mistakes he does, pick him apart with patience.

“Of course Jon Jones vacated his title and he’s in the heavyweight division now, so now the light heavyweight division gets interesting. [Dominick] Reyes fights against [Jan] Blachowicz for the title, and if I make a big statement on Saturday, maybe I’m the next title challenger. But I don’t want to predict anything, you know. After this fight we will see what’s gonna happen.

“I’m a little bit disappointed [at Jones leaving the division], but in another way I’m happy, because the title run is shorter for me. Maybe I’m gonna face Jon in the heavyweight division in the future, we never know what’s gonna happen.”

Although Rakic lacks no conviction in his belief that he won his last fight, he’s made sure to avoid complacency by studying the patterns of that contest.

“My mentality is always to get better from each fight,” he says. “After the fight with Volkan, me and my team sat together, rewatched the fight and made some adjustments – what we can do better and what we should change.

“We didn’t make a lot of changes, but small changes, and you’re going to see a different Aleksandar Rakic on Saturday.

“I had a hell of a camp in Zagreb with American Top Team and I’m ready to go.”

UFC Fight Night: Smith vs Rakic takes place on Saturday 29 August. The early preliminary card begins at 11pm BST, before the prelims start at 12am BST on Sunday 30 August. The main card follows at 2am BST on Sunday 30 August.

Viewers in the UK can watch the event on BT Sport 1, as well as on the BT Sport website and app. In the US, the event will be airing on ESPN+.