Anthony Smith reveals his UFC retirement fight is slated for April: “Win, lose, or draw, that’s going to be it”
Former UFC title challenger Anthony Smith will make his final walk to the cage later this year.
‘Lionheart’ is fresh off his return to the cage at UFC 310 last month in Las Vegas. Back for the first time since a short-notice loss to Roman Dolidze in June, Anthony Smith faced fellow contender Dominick Reyes. Sadly for the former title challenger, he entered the fight with a heavy heart. Just weeks before the bout, Smith’s coach, Scott Morton, suddenly passed away.
Despite some debate about pulling out, the 36-year-old proceeded with the bout. As a result, Dominick Reyes handed Anthony Smith a second-round knockout loss in a hard-to-watch fight. Afterward, the longtime UFC light-heavyweight champion seemingly announced his retirement.
However, Anthony Smith has since u-turned on the idea. Speaking on his podcast earlier this month, ‘Lionheart’ reflected on his UFC 310 loss, and what could be next for him. During the discussion, Smith confirmed plans to keep competing but declined to offer many more details than that. In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, he offered exactly that.
Anthony Smith says he will fight one more time.#HelwaniShow pic.twitter.com/J54VJUpgq6
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) January 21, 2025
UFC light-heavyweight contender Anthony Smith reveals retirement bout is set for April
In the interview, Anthony Smith revealed that he would only fight one more time. While ‘Lionheart’ didn’t reveal who his final opponent is, he stated that the bout will take place in April. Smith added who the opponent is, matters less than when and where the event will take place.
“Yeah, it’s one more. Win, lose, or draw, that’s going to be it.” Anthony Smith stated to Ariel Helwani earlier today discussing his UFC future. “Yeah, [the fight is already made], yeah. No [the fight hasn’t been announced yet], no. I do [want to announce it] but I can’t, you can’t get fired on your last one!”
He continued, “…Yeah, that’s what I’ll do, I’ll ask them if I can at least announce it on my own podcast. There we go… Yeah, [the fight will happen in April]. Yeah, it’s more about the time and the place [than the opponent]. S*it, I wish [the card was happening in Nebraska], that would’ve been cool.”
What do you make of these comments from the UFC light-heavyweight? Who do you want to see Anthony Smith face in his next fight?
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
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