Following his loss to Zhang Mingyang at UFC Kansas City, which marked his retirement from fighting, Anthony Smith appeared surprisingly ready for another conflict.
While medical staff attended to a severe cut on his head that bled profusely during the bout, Smith was visibly angered. He directed repeated middle fingers towards someone seated near the cage. Smith continued to confront this individual within his view, eventually getting up from the canvas and moving towards the cage fence, where he continued shouting at them.
During the UFC Kansas City post-fight show, Smith explained the cause of his agitation, which was so intense he might have considered delaying his retirement for a few more punches that night.
Smith recounted, “There was a guy in a Nebraska shirt who was booing me, flipping me off, and talking trash before the fight. I was focused then. But after the fight, while his friend cheered, he kept flipping me off and making some really disrespectful remarks.”
He added, “I was so upset. He was wearing a Nebraska shirt! We`re supposed to be family here. The community isn`t that large!”
Smith resides in Omaha, Nebraska, and has always proudly represented his home state. Seeing a fan in that shirt being simultaneously disrespectful clearly bothered him. Coupled with the emotional weight of losing his retirement fight, Smith admitted that anger and rage temporarily overcame him.
Remarkably, Zhang Mingyang even approached the cage and attempted to calm his opponent down when it seemed Smith might try to jump over the fence to settle things with the disruptive fan in the crowd.
“Mingyang was like, `Don`t do this, brother, you need to stop that,` Smith said. “Look, I was emotional. The fight didn`t go as planned, but that`s part of the sport.”
Expressing his disbelief, Smith continued, “I just couldn’t fathom it. I put my heart and soul into this sport. I don’t care if you think I`m not very good, but if you’re sitting in the crowd, you’re definitely not doing what I am, especially while wearing a Nebraska shirt. You can’t trash-talk in a Nebraska shirt! Seriously! That`s what it all came down to.”
Regarding Saturday night being the conclusion of his fighting career, Smith was still processing everything that had happened.
Perhaps the most difficult aspect of moving into retirement was the realization that there wouldn`t be another fight day, a feeling he hadn`t truly considered in almost two decades.
“It feels strange,” Smith commented. “Normally after a fight, win or lose, you think about the next step. If you lose, you`re considering opponents or rankings. If you win, you`re looking ahead. Now, there’s nothing more.”
He concluded, “So, I’m choosing not to be sad. I feel I shouldn`t be. It`s been a long journey. I started when I was 17, and I’ll be 37 in a few months. I’ve accomplished enough. I built my life around what I did in this sport. It provided opportunities I never would have had otherwise. I’m pushing myself to be happy that it happened, rather than sad that it’s over.”
