Aleksandar Rakic took another step towards UFC light-heavyweight title contention with a unanimous decision win over Anthony Smith in a three-round main event at the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas.
Smith (33-16) was ranked No. 5 prior to the fight but has now lost three of his past four fights. Rakic (12-2) was ranked No. 8 in the 205-pound division entering the bout and bounced back from a split decision loss to Volkan Oezdemir in December.
The weight class is wide open at the moment after longtime champion and pound-for-pound king Jon Jones recently vacated his championship belt with his eyes fixated on the heavyweight division.
Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz are set to compete for the vacant title on Sept. 26 at UFC 253. Rakic said he wants to face the winner.
In the co-main event, Neil Magny picked up the biggest win of his professional career by sweeping the scorecards against former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler, who has lost four in a row and five of his past six.
Magny passed UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes for second-most wins in UFC welterweight history and sits just two wins behind Georges St-Pierre for the all-time lead.
The 10-fight card began with four consecutive submissions and concluded with six straight unanimous decisions.
Here are the complete results:
MAIN CARD
— Aleksandar Rakic def. Anthony Smith by unanimous decision
— Neil Magny def. Robbie Lawler by unanimous decision
— Alexa Grasso def. Ji Yeon Kim by unanimous decision
— Ricardo Lamas def. Bill Algeo by unanimous decision
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Impa Kasanganay def. Maki Pitolo by unanimous decision
— Zak Cummings def. Alessio Di Chirico by unanimous decision
— Alex Caceres def. Austin Springer by submission (rear-naked choke)
— Sean Brady def. Christian Aguilera by submission (guillotine choke)
— Polyana Viana def. Emily Whitmire by submission (armbar)
— Mallory Martin def. Hannah Cifers by submission (rear-naked choke)
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