Anthony Smith looked like he was going to pick a fight with a fan after suffering his final loss at UFC Kansas City.
After more than 60 fights, the former UFC title challenger left both of his gloves in the Octagon on Saturday, signifying the end of his MMA career.
Anthony Smith made up his mind on retirement earlier this year, going out in a ‘puddle of his own blood’ in his last fight against Chinese knockout artist Mingyang Zhang.
All of his wins coming by finish, Zhang stopped Smith with strikes four minutes into the opening round with the referee calling off the contest.
‘Lionheart’ received a lot of love in the aftermath and the UFC rolled out a heartwarming retirement tribute for him on the big screen.
However, not everybody was so kind to the retired MMA veteran with one fan in particular making Smith rage in the cage post-fight.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
Following the TKO result, Smith fired back at a fan in the crowd, giving him the middle finger before approaching the cage to talk to him.
Smith gave his side of the story on the UFC Kansas City post-fight show, revealing the fan had been antagonizing him prior to the fight.
“There was a guy in a Nebraska shirt and he was booing me and flipping me off,” Smith said.
“Talking trash before the fight… but I was really focused on what I had to do,” Smith continued.
“And then after the fight, his friend is cheering and he’s still flipping me off, saying some pretty disrespectful things. I was so mad…
“He was wearing a [University of] Nebraska shirt, like what are you doing? We’re supposed to be family here, there’s not a very big community of people here.”
Fighting out of Omaha, Nebraska, Smith proudly represents the midwest, baffled that someone from his region would disrespect him especially in his retirement fight, after so many years of competing on the regional scene and against the best UFC fighters in the world such as current champions Jon Jones and Magomed Ankalaev.
Smith’s opponent Mingyang Zhang held him back during the heated altercation with the fan.
“Minyang was like, ‘Don’t do this, you gotta quit that…’” Smith recalled.
“I was emotional. The fight didn’t go the way I wanted it it to go. It is what it is.
“I couldn’t believe… I put my heart and soul into this game and I don’t care if you think that I suck and I’m not very good.
“If you’re sitting in the crowd, you’re definitely not doing what I’m doing,” Smith said.
Anthony Smith fought a number of champions and title challengers in his career, stopping the likes of Mauricio Rua and Rashad Evans in back-to-back months, Alexander Gustafsson and Volkan Oezdemir in his light heavyweight heyday.
Anthony SmithUFCUFC Kansas City
