Devin Clark is ready to step into the “Lionheart”s den.
The 28-year old light heavyweight from South Dakota, who most recently earned his third UFC win with a unanimous decision victory over Mike Rodriguez at UFC 223 in April, wants his next bout to come against Anthony Smith in August.
“I want to fight this summer in Lincoln, Nebraska would be great. I really want a fight with Anthony Smith there,” Clark told MMAWeekly on Tuesday. “He’s from Nebraska, I’m from South Dakota, it would be a nice state rivalry deal and that’s a great fight as well. That would be a great fight for the fans.
“With my pressure and his striking, that’s going to be a great three round fight.”
Smith has been asking the UFC to find him an opponent so he could fight in his home state ever since he knocked out former champion Rashad Evans at UFC 225 in Chicago just a couple of weeks ago.
As of now, Smith still doesn’t have an opponent and Clark would love the opportunity to challenge him on Aug. 25. Clark definitely likes the idea of challenging Smith on his home turf, which reminds him of his days in wrestling where teams would find motivation in stepping into enemy territory.
“I love that,” Clark said about fighting Smith in Nebraska. “I’m a competitor, I’m an athlete and I’m used to that with wrestling. These small towns around here growing up, it’s always like that. I’m up for that challenge and especially with a guy like that.”
Perhaps the best part about Clark’s request to fight Smith is that he knows this will be one of the toughest possible matchups for him in the light heavyweight division.
Clark doesn’t want fights he knows he’s going to win.
He wants to face opponents who will push him to become a better fighter and that’s exactly what Smith would provide.
“It’s great. What he did with Rashad [Evans] and I have a little bit of a similar style as Rashad with the wrestling and everything. Rashad, he made a mistake on that, ducked his head and he paid for it. Anthony’s the kind of guy who will capitalize on all of those things,” Clark said. “That’s another reason I really want that fight.
“He’s going to push me to be on my top game. I’m not going to be able to lay on him like Mike Rodriguez and control him the entire time. The only reason that happened is because he allowed me to. A guy like Anthony Smith, I don’t think he’d allow that so it would make me fight my best fight.”
