Anthony Smith Defies ‘Do or Die’ Narrative on UFC Retirement Fight in Brutally Honest Confession

Anthony Smith has faced many fighters in his 17-year career in the combat sports world. The 38-21-0  light heavyweight star has faced dangerous fighters like Dominick Reyes, Khalil Rountree Jr, and Jon Jones. However, nothing was more horrifying and heartbreaking than what he faced recently, just before his retirement from the sport. He recently lost his coach and close friend, Scott Morton, before fighting Reyes at UFC 310. The tragedy hit ‘Lionheart’ immensely, and he absorbed the punches thrown by his opponent without much retaliation. Reyes too, was stunned by his opponent who told MMA Junkie that Smith asked to be punched just to feel something. Reyes said, “As he said it. He’s fighting for his friend, and he doesn’t care about the outcome. He just wants to feel something.”

“I was in hell. I was living a f— nightmare,” confessed Anthony Smith in a candid conversation with Ariel Helwani, reflecting on his coach’s death due to a heart attack. However, Smith still has his last dance left to finally hang up his gloves. He is set to fight in the co-main event bout against Zhang Mingyang at UFC Kansas City on April 26, closing a 17-year career filled with resilience and memorable highlights. His mentality? a complete zen mode where he is ready to empty his ‘tank’ completely.

As per Home of Fight, he said, “I think in this fight being my last walk to the Octagon I think it’s a lot less pressure because  I get to just go in there and just leave whatever I got left. Whatever’s left in this tank. I just gotta go unload it. That’s it and the result will play itself out but I prepared hard I feel really good I don’t think that you know that this guy’s on my level. I am retiring because I can’t compete anymore. But I am excited to go in there kinda pressure free and just go have a lot of fun and just try to put hands on someone the last time and just empty the tank and see what we get.”

The former UFC light heavyweight title challenger did have a point before, where he had admitted that he was terrified by the prospect of retirement but now things have changed. “I’ve accepted it,” Smith told MMA Junkie. “Scottie dying changed it for me. I’m having a fairly fun week, but this isn’t something I want to get used to, having fights with that missing piece in our crew. Even the nighttimes are a little bit different. Instead of sitting around listening to him snore while he falls asleep randomly, we’re now telling jokes about it. It’s just different. It feels different, so I don’t feel like I’m leaving something that I’ve had for a long time. Because this is different.”

The 36-year-old is looking forward to his last dance as per the interview, but he is also happy that he will wake up the next day knowing that this chapter of his life is over. He had one of the most grueling journeys in UFC from being cut in 2013 to getting back into the roster three years later. Now that he has accomplished a lot, he is ready to pass the baton to the younger generation of fighters.

Anthony Smith’s advice for young fighters

Smith was not just fighting in this 17-year-long career but had a side hustle as well. Not because he wanted to have it he had no choice. You would be surprised to know that till Smith’s 36th MMA fight, he worked as a concrete finisher! And this work got even more important when he got cut from the UFC back in 2013 because he needed to feed his wife and kids, too.

“I always believed this [MMA] could be a real career. But I had to [work as a concrete finisher]. I had a family while I was chasing this dream,” Anthony Smith told ‘Home of Fight’. Since he learned it the hard way, he had some advice for the young and upcoming fighters.

Unless they got into a fight that was against the top ten and promised a lot of money, like a 6-figure or 7-figure paycheck, it was better to have a side hustle to support their finances. “If you’re struggling, you’re grinding and you’re trying to make it to the next level, you have to have a job at the same time,” Smith continued. “And, I know this is not what people want to hear, but if you don’t, you put yourself in a situation where you’re fighting for money, and you never wanna do this because you need the money.”

Smith persevered through gruelling 40-hour work weeks and training to become a star fighter and a millionaire. And now he is ready to start a new chapter in life with his family. What do you think this new chapter will look like? Tell us your thoughts below.

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