UFC Kansas City results: Anthony Smith brutally stopped by Zhang Mingyang in bloody retirement bout
Anthony Smith did not get his fairytale ending.
The longtime UFC veteran suffered a brutal stoppage loss at the hands of China's Zhang Mingyang in his retirement bout on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Kansas City, which took place at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Mingyang finished Smith under a hailstorm of grounded elbows at the 4:03 mark of the opening round to send Smith into retirement on a three-fight losing streak.
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"I felt OK, but once I got clipped with that elbow, it was bleeding in my eyes," Smith said afterward. "He does a great job in the clinch. Listen, at the end of the day, five years ago that's a beatable guy. Here I am, I'm aging. It is what it is, father time wins tonight.
"Every single one of you made an impact on my life. When I started this game, I was homeless, I had nothing going for me. And now this platform has allowed me to raise my family, my four beautiful daughters, and give them a life I've never been able to have. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much."
Despite his emotional night, Smith (38-22) was given no quarter by Mingyang (19-6) from the opening horn. The light heavyweight up-and-comer split Smith open with a step-in elbow early in the first round, leaving blood pouring into his eyes. Mingyang continued to blast Smith with standing elbows, then did more of the same once Smith hit the floor, leaving "Lionheart" in a pool of his own blood as referee Jason Herzog stepped in to wave off the action.
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Smith, 36, debuted in the UFC for a one-fight stint in 2013 but didn't start his true Octagon run until his second chance began in 2016. Smith won seven of his first nine appearances given that second opportunity, including a destructive 3-0 streak after jumping up from middleweight to light heavyweight. That culminated in a shot at the UFC light heavyweight title against Jon Jones, which Smith lost via unanimous decision, however he earned widespread respect for refusing to game the system and end the fight on a Jones disqualification after sustaining an illegal knee to the head from the then-champion.
Smith went 6-8 over his final 14 Octagon appearances following that title shot, remaining a mainstay of the 205-pound contender rankings all the way through his farewell bout on Saturday. Over the course of his 17-year MMA career, Smith earned notable victories over former UFC champions Mauricio Rua and Rashad Evans, former Bellator champion Hector Lombard, plus UFC title challengers Alexander Gustafsson and Volkan Oezdemir.
Smith's world was rocked this past November following the untimely death of his longtime coach Scott Morton, which "Lionheart" admitted this week helped to shepherd his transition into retirement.
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Smith ultimately exits the sport with a 13-12 record compiled over 25 UFC bouts.
"I don't mean this to sound cocky or arrogant, but I've never, until now, felt like I've done something worth celebrating," Smith told Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show." "I've never felt like I should be celebrated. It's never a thing I've looked for, but I feel like now I've f***ing put in a career that I should be proud of, and I should deserve to be able to celebrate it and be happy about it. Whether I did win a world title or not. That was always the goal. I didn't think I'd ever be happy if I didn't win it, but I found myself in a place where I didn't win the world title, and that's OK because it wasn't for lack of effort. I tried really, really, really f***ing hard, and I'm just going to celebrate what I was able to do.
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"I came from nothing. People like me that come from where I come from don't do things like this. They just don't, and I should be happy that it happened and not allow myself to just think about the things I didn't accomplish."
For complete UFC Kansas City results and highlights, as well as play-by-play of the Ian Machado Garry vs. Carlos Prates main event, check out Uncrowned's event hub here.
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