Anthony Smith retired after losing to UFC Kansas City’s Chang Min-gang, but it appears he was ready for another fight afterwards.
The healthcare worker tends to be nasty cuts above his head, which poured blood into his face during the fight, so Smith seemed visibly angry when he threw a double middle finger at someone sitting on the cageside. Smith repeatedly turned this person over with his gaze, and he eventually rose from the canvas and went to the cage where he continued screaming at them.
At the UFC Kansas City Post Fight Show, Smith explained why he was ready to delay his retirement and throw several more punches on Saturday.
“I had a guy in a Nebraska shirt and he was like booing me and flipping me over and talking trash before the fight,” Smith revealed. “But I was really focused on what I had to do. Then after the fight, his friend was cheering on and he’s still turning me over and saying something pretty rude.
“I was so mad. He was wearing a Nebraska shirt! We should be a family here. That’s not a very large community of people here!”
Smith lives in Omaha, Nevada and proudly represents his hometown throughout his career, so he rubbed him the wrong way, seeing fans wearing the shirt and talking garbage at the same time. Adding feelings of loss in his retirement battle, Smith admits that in that moment anger and anger made him better.
In fact, Chan went to the cage and tried to pull his opponent back from the brink when Smith seemed ready to jump over the fence and calm things down with loudmouth fans in the crowd.
“Mingyan says, ‘Don’t do this sibling, you have to stop it,'” Smith said. “Listen, I was emotional. The fight wasn’t the way I wanted it to be. That’s what it is. It’s part of the game.
“I couldn’t believe it. I pour my heart and soul into this game. I don’t care if I suck, I don’t think I’m good or if I’m sitting in the crowd, I don’t care what I’m doing, especially not wearing a Nebraska shirt. I can’t talk about trash in a Nebraska shirt!
As long as Saturday night serves as the final appearance of his fighting career, Smith was still trying to wrap his head around everything that had happened.
Perhaps the toughest aspect of going to retirement was Smith, who realized there was no tomorrow when it came to combat.
“It’s strange,” Smith said. “I’m used to fighting, so whether you win or lose, you do the following: You start rolling across this Rorodex.
“So I refuse to be sad. I shouldn’t be allowed to be sad. It’s been a long journey. I’ve been doing this since I was 17. In a few months I’ll be 37. I’ve built enough of what I can do with this sport.