When he approaches the UFC retirement, Anthony Smith finally feels that he has a “career that I have to be proud of”

Anthony Smith knew that another battle was all that he wanted after his hard loss of Dominic Reyes in December.

A one-time UFC title Plainer for growing avenue in heavyweight Zhang Mignang in the UFC Kansas City competitions this Saturday, which also doubles as Smith’s swans after a 17-year MMA professional mileage. The victory for Smith would make a losing malfunction with two battles, sending him on a high note. Smith spoke about the big week on Monday at the Ariel Helvani show.

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“I knew that I wanted one more, and indeed, I just wanted to do it in my own way. I just wanted to control this, ”Smith said. “I didn’t want to be:“ Oh, dude, it’s really suck, and I’m going to put my head in the sand and just hide and never do it again. ” I know that some people retire, but I wanted it to be on my own conditions. This is that I wanted a favorable circumstance in terms of enough time to prepare in my training camp.

“Of course, I asked Omaha,” Smith added, a resident of Neobraski, “but Kansas -City was as close as possible, so we did.”

Smith, 36 years old, was opened about the influence of the untimely death of his long -standing coach, Scott Morton, showed him. Morton suddenly died in November last year, a month before Smith’s fight against Reyes at the UFC 310.

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“Scotti wanted me to retire for a while,” Smith said. “He would say:“ What are we doing? You no longer need to do it. You can just be a father. Why do we just continue here? “For some reason, I just continued to say:” I feel it. I would convince him: “Let’s do it again.” Then we fought and said: “We can go one more.”

“I had no pension thoughts or intentions (nothing) of this. But I actually do not leave something, that I still really like it. The game is different without him, and it was only he, and I have been almost 20 years old. Not only he and me, but it was he and I and I, along with others. Preparation feels differently, the enterprise feels differently.

Reyes stopped Smith in the second round in December to continue the current impulse of Reyes.

Despite the fact that the result was officially defeated as a loss in Smith MMA, Smith described the experience as a therapeutic life.

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It was about to cope with the “tragedy at the top of the tragedy” for Smith, although a long -standing applicant for 205 pounds admits that he is also not entirely free from the injury that came with the death of Morton.

“That Monday used to be in hell,” thought Smith. “I lived in a nightmare. Some days are still very bad, but I really needed this struggle.

“I kind of like a domin -Ries for this. He did not show me any kind of mercy at all. He did not feel bad for me and generally released gas. He did not feel bad for me, and did not blow out to me in those situations where he had the opportunity – and I really needed it. It was a cathartic experience for me. “

Smith has been a constantly active competitor since his professional debut in 2008. After the years of struggle as a middle weight, during which he might have exhausted himself longer than he should, Smith was the best run of 205 pounds. The victories over the former champions and the Glory Hall of Rashad Evans and Maurisio Rua followed the idea of ​​the Volkan Omir, having earned Smith in 2019 against John Jones.

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Evans and Rua are only two of many large memories that Smith can be proud of. After 17 years, he finally spends time to evaluate his achievements – even if only softly.

“I do not mean that it sounds bold or arrogant, but I never, I still felt that I was doing something, that it was worth celebrating,” Smith said. “I never felt as if I should not be celebrated. It never was what I was looking for, but I feel that now I am damn about the quarry, really, really, really damn hard, and I’m just going to celebrate what I was able to do.

“I came from nothing. People, like me who come from where I came from, do not do this. They just do not do this, and I must be happy that this happened, and not allow myself to just think about what I did not achieve. ”

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It was a mixed bag for Smith in a column of victories in those years that have passed since his failure to Jones, but he feels that there is no more reason to supplant his pension. And although MMA can be out of the table after the UFC Kansas -City, he admitted openness, so that some potentially try some of the possibilities of a “ugly show”.

Before he can shift his attention, however, Smith will exchange strokes with a hard sting on Saturday.

“I did not know him, I never heard his name – and for a short while I looked at him, and I liked what I saw,” Smith said. “I wanted the reason. I wanted to know why this name is. Therefore, I talked with (Matchmaker UFC) Mikom Meinard – I just ended up on the show, and I worked and met him in Cageide. We watched a couple of battles together, and he explained part of their philosophy with a battle, and I was good in this. There was an actual idea that this was part of this, and I recognized it.

“This is a business decision that I understand. But I think that you can be honest with me and not damage my feelings. (Zhang) a very tough beginner, but I think they are not sure where he is actually in terms of his skills set and how good he is. It is difficult to compare, because the guys who are in his similar position, these guys, all these guys, (they say they want. Trying to catch us on the way.

“Therefore, I think that the UFC is not sure how good Zhang is really from the point of view – he has a high ceiling? I think so. How good is he now? I don’t know. We will see in the second round, ”Smith continued. “I think this is partly. You must put someone rather hard in front of him, because you will not find out what is his level – and what is the fighter and who he is – as a person – until you can push him past, where it is convenient for him. He simply put his leg on the gas and becomes heavy, like F *** for five minutes, and still has not released him on the first tour. ”