Anthony Smith finally got what he wanted after UFC retirement fight

Anthony Smith found the acknowledgment he had been seeking throughout his in entire career during his final night on the job.

Smith wrapped up his pro MMA career during the UFC Kansas City event on April 26. “Lionheart” shared the Octagon with Zhang Mingyang inside T-Mobile Center. Smith was stopped in the first round via TKO, ending his prizefighting career on a loss.

While “Lionheart” didn’t emerge victorious in his last bout, he did find something he had been looking for throughout his MMA journey.

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Anthony Smith’s Peers Gave Him His Flowers

During an appearance on SiriusXM’s “MMA Today,” Anthony Smith said he always wanted to win a UFC title simply for the acknowledgment that his career was worth it. While he never captured UFC gold, he did get the acknowledgment he was looking for (via MMAFighting).

“And one thing that meant a lot to me, when I was getting ready to walk in, I was in the check-in station, I get the vaseline, they check me, and I walked up the stairs, I turned around, and Dana’s fighter section is right there, and everybody was standing up, clapping. So then I got the acknowledgement from my peers, the other fighters. Even if they didn’t like me, at least they appreciated the journey. …

“I got the acknowledgement from my peers. And then the UFC and ESPN, with the video package, Jelly Roll, which was cool, you were on there [Din Thomas], and Rashad [Evans], and Glover [Teixeira], the people I respect the most, Laura [Sanko], [Jon] Anik. I think that was the acknowledgement I was looking for the whole time. It was wild. Other than the win, it couldn’t have been any better.”

The UFC production truck aired a special tribute video for Smith once the last fight of his MMA career wrapped up. That’s where the aforementioned praise from the likes of Rashad Evans and Glover Teixeira surfaced.