After months of anticipation, UFC veteran Anthony Smith finally made his final walk to the Octagon at UFC Kansas City, where he battled Zhang Mingyang.
The light heavyweight fighter had previously announced this would be his final fight, and many were hopeful that “Lionheart” would score one last win. Unfortunately, he lost via TKO stoppage. During a break when he was being attended to by medical personnel, Smith, looking angry, could be seen repeatedly gesturing a middle finger toward a member of the audience. After the bout, Smith explained what transpired.
“There was a guy in a Nebraska shirt and he was booing me and flipping me off and kind of talking trash before the fight,” Smith revealed. “But I was really focused on what I had to do. Then after the fight, his friend is cheering and he’s still flipping me off and saying some pretty disrespectful things.
“I was so mad. He was wearing a Nebraska shirt! We’re supposed to be family here. It’s not a very big community of people here!”
The Omaha resident fighter took this fan’s shirt as disrespect to the state and admitted that he let his anger get the better of him. He was close to climbing over the cage and getting into it with the fan, but luckily his opponent, Mingyang, drew him back.
“Mingyang is like, ‘Don’t do this brother, you’ve got to quit that,’” Smith said. “Listen, I was emotional. The fight didn’t go the way I wanted it to go. That is what it is. That’s just part of the game.
“I just couldn’t believe that. I pour my heart and soul into this game, and I don’t care if you think that I suck or that I’m not very good — if you’re sitting in the crowd, you’re definitely not doing what I’m doing, especially wearing a Nebraska shirt. You can’t talk trash wearing a Nebraska shirt! Like come on now! That’s all that was.”
Prior to the bout, Smith revealed he was having second thoughts and was so agitated he considered delaying the retirement fight.
“It’s weird,” Smith said. “Because I’m used to fighting — whether you win or you lose, you go onto whatever’s next. You start rolling through this Rolodex like, ‘All right, I lost, so I’ve got to find this guy, I’ve got to chase this ranking.’ You win, you’re looking ahead. There is nothing else.
“So I’m refusing to be sad. I shouldn’t be allowed to be sad. It’s been a long journey. I’ve been doing this since I was 17 years old. I’m going to be 37 in a couple of months. I got enough. I built my life around what I was able to do in this sport. It’s afforded me opportunities I was never, ever able to have. I’m forcing myself to be happy that it happened and not sad that it’s over.”
Following Saturday night, Smith ends his career with a pro MMA record of 38-22. He shared the Octagon with the likes of Jon Jones, Glover Teixeira, Rashad Evans, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and reigning UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Magomed Ankalaev, to name a few.
