Anthony Smith 'refusing to be sad' about UFC retirement loss, explains flipping off fan
Anthony Smith 'refusing to be sad' about UFC retirement loss, explains flipping off fan
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UFC Kansas City video: Dana White full post-fight interview
UFC CEO Dana White spoke to reporters at the UFC on ESPN 66 post-fight press conference and talked Ian Machado Garry's win, the Du Plessis vs. Chimaev, Makhachev vs. Topuria, Jones vs. Aspinall and more.
Anthony Smith's final fight at UFC on ESPN 66 was a one-sided bloodbath that ended with him flipping off a fan in the crowd.
Smith (38-22 MMA, 13-12 UFC) suffered a first-round TKO defeat to Zhang Mingyang (19-6 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in his retirement bout Saturday at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. He was cut open by an elbow early, then battered into a stoppage on the ground, and as he was getting up lifted the middle finger and pointed it into the camera, much to the confusion of viewers.
According to Smith, his post-fight actions were directed as a random fan in the crowd, who he said was behaving in a disrespectful manner from the time he walked to the octagon for the final time, to the time his opponent was mercifully pulled off him.
'There was a guy in a Nebraska shirt and he was like booing me and flipping me off and kind of talking trash before the fight,' Smith said on ESPN's UFC on ESPN 66 post-fight show. '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. … 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.'
Smith, 36, told MMA Junkie prior to his fight with Mingyang that he was actually excited about the prospect of retirement because the competition side of MMA and sacrifices required has put such a heavy burden on his life.
Now, Smith is free of that burden and can focus on his family and next chapter of his life, which includes serving as a prominent analyst for UFC and ESPN.
The new reality hasn't yet fully set in on "Lionheart," but he said he's going to do his best not to mourn the past, and instead appreciate the bright future.
'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.'
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