Anthony Smith has announced that his next fight against Zhang Mingyang at UFC Kansas City will be his last, confirming his retirement from MMA. This decision wasn’t sudden; Smith has been considering retirement for a while.
The 36-year-old fighter admitted he had been delaying his retirement, but his priorities have shifted. While he still loves fighting, he feels the need to focus more on his family life as a dad and husband.
“If I’m honest, I probably stayed too long already,” Smith confessed, mentioning he started thinking about retirement around the time of his second fight with Ryan Spann. He explained that the time commitment was taking away from his family life. He wants to be more present for his children and slow down that part of his life.
Initially, Smith thought he had three or four fights left, but that number kept being pushed back. Eventually, the challenges surrounding fighting, not the fighting itself, began to outweigh the rewards. He loves the competition of stepping into the octagon, but the media obligations, travel, and training camps were becoming less appealing.
Specifically, Smith pointed to media duties, travel for fights and training camps, and living in hotels as reasons why now is the perfect time to retire.
While contemplating retirement for some time, the death of his coach and friend, Scott Morton, solidified his decision.
“Scotty’s death made it easy,” Smith said. “Things are different for me now. It doesn’t feel the same. My daily life is different without him. Retiring now is easier because I’m already leaving something that doesn’t feel normal anyway.”
He feels like he’s not leaving behind something he cherished for a long time because that familiar feeling is already gone.
Smith fought shortly after Morton’s passing, losing to Dominick Reyes. He doesn’t regret the fight, believing it was part of his healing process.
“I think I needed that for my own healing,” Smith explained. “I needed to go through that experience. Whether I fought then or later, it would have been the same.”
He believes fighting helped him cope with the loss, helping him to carry the grief better afterwards.
Soon after that loss in December, Smith decided to have one final fight and then retire.
He contacted the UFC to schedule his last fight and had a supportive conversation with UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell, who understood his decision.
“It was a good conversation,” Smith said. He appreciated the UFC’s support and their willingness to work with him to make his final fight happen close to home.
With his final fight scheduled in April, Smith is in his last training camp and is confident in his decision. He is aware of the common joke about MMA fighters and retirement, with many returning after announcing their departure.
Smith acknowledges the skepticism but insists this retirement is final. He’s not retiring because he dislikes fighting itself, but because he’s no longer willing to commit to everything else that comes with it. His priority is now his children and being a more present and normal family man.
He joked about a hypothetical boxing match like Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen in the future, but confirmed he is done with MMA as a full-time career.
