Anthony Smith has formed a close relationship with Jamahal Hill and he's going to bat for his fellow UFC light heavyweight.
Both are set to compete in the near future, with Smith fighting Dominick Reyes at UFC 310 this Saturday and Hill scheduled to take on Jiri Prochazka at UFC 311 on Jan. 18. The veteran fighters are also well known for their comments outside the cage, with Smith also serving as a contributing analyst for UFC broadcasts and Hill active on social media and YouTube.
Hill isn't one to stay silent when confronted on a topic and that has occasionally rubbed fans and fighters the wrong way, but Smith doesn't think Hill's abrasiveness defines him.
"Jamahal and I made an organic relationship that turned into a friendship," Smith said at UFC 310 media day when asked if he plans to focus on coaching more fighters in the future. "That was just an organic meeting. I see a lot of myself in him when I was younger. I'd seen his talent and he's a good dude. The guys that are in my gym that are close to me that are like my brothers, of course, I'll do anything I can for those guys, but I'm not out searching for guys to take under my wing to help. I'm going to help the people that are close to me that I have love for, but I'm not trying to be a mentor.
"I just wish that people had seen the side of Jamahal that we see every day. The delusional Jamahal jokes, he's passionate about his craft and he really cares. I'm media-trained, so I know how to get a point to land on the audience that I'm trying to reach and he's unconcerned with that. He just speaks from his heart. I think that he knows he could have performed better in his fight and it still comes off as excuse-making, but it's just him speaking from his perspective. That's not the guy that we see every day. ... He's just a regular dude and he's a good dude."
Recently, Hill found himself responding to Prochazka after his upcoming opponent criticized his performances. Hill compared their title fight defeats to Alex Pereira and boasted that he showed more in his loss than Prochazka did.
It's not just fighter beefs that have painted a negative picture of Hill, as he also embarrassed himself sparring with fans online as he defended Dana White slapping his wife at a New Year's Eve party in 2022.
Asked how Hill plans to deal with Prochazka in their battle of former UFC light heavyweight champions, Smith acknowledged the difficulties of Prochazka's style while leaning towards a knockout win for Hill.
"Jiri is such a pain in the ass, he's just such a unique style and fights so free," Smith said. "But anybody that's as hittable as Jiri standing in front of Jamahal is going to have a bad night. That's just not because Jamahal's my friend, the power that that guy carries is different. His ability to find shots is different and you're not going to have to work too hard to find Jiri's head."