Anthony Smith has confirmed his UFC Kansas City fight against Mingyang Zhang will be his final fight.
Smith believes he’s likely already stayed around for too long but knows the time is now to retire, regardless of the result. Even if Smth turns back the clock and has an incredible performance, he says this retirement is for good.
“I probably stuck around too long already, if we’re being honest,” Smith said to MMA Fighting. “Probably since maybe the second [Ryan] Spann fight, I started telling my team and my family and my wife like I’m having a lot of fun, but it’s just taking up a lot of time. It comes down to being a dad and being a husband and kind of just checking into that part of my life. Not that I’m not checked in, I’m super involved with everything that goes on. I almost never miss anything. But it’d be nice to slow that part of it down and not have that part of the responsibility. That’s kind of when it started…
“It got rough. It just started to feel like the ups and downs weren’t worth it anymore. I love the fight part of it,” Smith added. “There’s nothing I enjoy doing more than walking into the octagon and fighting. It’s everything that surrounds it that I’m not as willing to do anymore.”
