Anthony Smith gets candid about UFC 303 loss: “What the f*** am I doing here?”

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith is in a peculiar spot after his short-notice defeat to Roman Dolidze.

Smith and Dolidze fought in a days’ notice matchup at UFC 303 last month. After he was originally supposed to face Carlos Ulberg, Ulberg withdrew, leading to Dolidze stepping up from middleweight to take the fight.

Smith went on to lose the matchup by unanimous decision. The loss came just weeks after defeating Vitor Petrino by submission at UFC 301.

The 35-year-old Smith is back to square one when it comes to his pursuit of a UFC light heavyweight title. But, he might be in the middle of his exit plan after the loss to Dolidze, as he recently admitted.

Anthony Smith admits he’s at a “crossroads” after UFC 303

In a recent episode of the Believe You Me podcast with Michael Bisping, Smith reflected on what went wrong at UFC 303.

“There was almost a moment where I was kinda like ‘What the f*** am I doing here?’,” Smith said. “Not so much me, but why am I even in this position right now? I came here to fill in for Jamahal [Hill] in a matchup that I really liked, and that I was familiar with because of training with Jamahal and helping him out. And then all of a sudden it’s [Roman] Dolidze, who I got a lot of respect for…I’ve been very high on Dolidze, for a long time…

“It’s a stylistic nightmare for me. A shorter, stocky grappler with good striker. Those guys have always been my kryptonite…I love to fight, I love fighting. The problem I’m running into mentally is if I’m not doing it to win a title, am I costing myself more than it’s worth? That’s the crossroads that I’m at. It’s time away from my family, and it’s getting harder and harder…that might’ve put the nail in the coffin on getting a title.”

Smith lost to Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 235. Since then, he’s traded wins and losses, including victories over the likes of Alexander Gustafsson and Ryan Spann.

As Smith prepares for his next fight, he might already have one foot out the door when it comes to his career. He’ll look to get back on track in his next booking, likely set for later this year.