Jon Jones isn’t doubting Anthony Smith’s worthiness as a title challenger.

On March 2, Jones will defend his UFC light heavyweight gold against Smith. The bout will headline UFC 235 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Serving as the co-main event will be a welterweight title clash between champion Tyron Woodley and Kamaru Usman.

“Bones” said he expects Smith to pose a challenge:

“When the camp started I didn’t know anything about him, really. Now that I’ve been studying him I see he’s a worthy opponent. To everyone else, he’s this gigantic underdog, but I take him very seriously. He’s done some nice things in his past fights and he has my full attention. My goal is to finish the fight and dominate him, but I give him my full respect and he’s ready to be in this position. I’m excited for a good challenge. I think right now he’s just on a nice win streak. That’s the improvement is he’s got a win streak. With that being said, I’m on like a 10-year win streak. I give him full credit and respect, but I don’t doubt myself.”

Jones captured the UFC 205-pound gold back in December. He scored a third-round TKO victory over Alexander Gustafsson in their rematch. Since moving to the light heavyweight division, Smith has earned finishes over Rashad Evans, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and Volkan Oezdemir.