Rakic earns clear-cut decision over Smith in UFC main event

Aleksandar Rakic defeated Anthony Smith via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27) in the light heavyweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Rakic landed a series of devastating leg kicks early in the first round before taking Smith down and using what appeared to be a strength advantage to spend most of the fight on the ground. Smith, who many thought had a grappling advantage, struggled to return to his feet throughout the three-round bout.

Rakic wasn't very active while controlling Smith, landing the odd punch and ground-and-pound in small spurts. Though it wasn't the most exciting fight, Rakic still delivered an impressive, one-sided performance.

With the victory, Rakic bounces back from a narrow decision loss to former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir last December. Following Saturday's fight, the 28-year-old called out the winner of Dominick Reyes versus Jan Blachowicz, which will decide the new light heavyweight champion at UFC 253 on Sept. 26.

Rakic is now 5-1 in the Octagon after making his debut in 2017.

Smith, a former title challenger, suffered his second straight loss Saturday and dropped to 1-3 in his past four bouts. He entered this clash coming off a loss to Glover Teixeira in May.