UFC fan favorite vows to retire for good after next fight: ‘My kids deserve it’

One seasoned UFC veteran says his next fight will be his MMA swan song, and he won’t be looking back.

Anthony Smith is scheduled to compete on the UFC Kansas City card. He will take on Zhang Mingyang inside T-Mobile Center on Aug. 26. Headlining that card will be a light heavyweight battle between former 205-pound champion Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree.

This will be “Lionheart’s” final dance inside the Octagon, and he insists that he’ll be hanging up his gloves for good.

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Anthony Smith Says No Thinking Twice About Retirement

If you expect Anthony Smith to walk away after UFC Kansas City only to return to fighting several months later, “Lionheart” insists that won’t be the case. He explained to Damon Martin of MMAFighting.com why he can’t go back on his word.

“It’s final,” Smith said about his decision. “It’s really just because it’s not about fighting itself. It’s about everything that surrounds it that I’m just not as willing to do anymore. My kids deserve it. My children deserve not to have this thing all the time and just not have me constantly waiting on the next big thing. Really just checking into them. You have to structure your life a certain way when you live this life and I’m ready to just not do that anymore and ready to just to be as close to a normal human as I possibly can.

“Now I’m not saying if there was like an Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen boxing match in nowhere Brazil that popped up in some years or something that I wouldn’t be willing to do that. But in terms of fighting for a living, and this being my full-time gig, not anymore. No, I’m done.”

Smith never captured UFC gold, but he was closer than most to achieving that feat. “Lionheart” went from career journeyman to a respected veteran. He also proved himself as a top analyst on UFC broadcasts. With his broadcasting and podcast work ahead of him, Smith is prepared to stick around the fight game, but not as a competitor.