Aaron Weinbaum, Aaronsayswhat.com

Gus wins. He’s going to show he is the perennial top 3 guy.

Aaron Crider-MMATorch Contributor 

Anthony Smith is looking for redemption after losing to Jon Jones at UFC 235, but it won’t be enough to overcome Alexander Gustafsson. Smith was too passive in his fight with Jones, who used leg kicks to keep him at bay. Gustafsson is the only fighter to really push Jones, and that was in his prime. He will be as equally aggressive as the champ, using his boxing skills to rough up Smith. I say Gustafsson wins this one all the way.

Sean Covington, Columnist – Covington’s Corner

I see Anthony Smith knocking out Alexander Gustafsson. Smith will show the side of him we needed to see in the Jones fight and it’ll piss me off because the question will be “where was that during the title fight?!” In the end it doesn’t even matter because these two guys are bums that don’t get it done. Gustafsson is washed up and an utter disappointment.

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Frank Hyden, Columnist – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I think Gustafsson wins by either decision or late round TKO. It depends on how motivated and willing to engage he is. He can grind Smith down and win a dominant five-round decision or finish Smith in the fourth round with strikes. Gustafsson is in that tough area of being better than just about everyone in the division except for the champion. I think he shows how good he can be and gets the clear win.

Michael Hiscoe, MMATorch Managing Editor

I like Anthony Smith here. There are always so many questions as to which version of Alexander Gustafsson is going to show up on a particular night. While he lost the fight decisively, Smith’s fight with Jones was one of those experiences that you can build off of. He’s been in there with the best and now he knows that he can hold his own with the rest. Smith is entering enemy territory but he’s been much more active than Gustafsson as of late and he sounds relaxed and ready to go in the interviews he’s given this week. If Smith gets the Gustafsson who fought Glover Teixeira a couple of years ago, he’s going to have a tough time. But Smith isn’t Glover Teixeira, he’s not going to stand in front of him and take those shots or allow Gustafsson to engage in a clinch war for very long. I think Smith will take the fight to the ground when he needs to and be able to score a late round submission win.

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