Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images

Anthony Smith Reveals Reason Behind Post-Fight Gesture After UFC Kansas City Retirement Loss

Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images

After nearly two decades of his MMA career, Anthony Smith has finally called it quits, and has now officially retired. For the last fight of his career, Smith took on Zhang Mingyang, and it was a one-sided match to saw the least. The two faced each other for the co-main event at UFC Kansas City, and it marked Smith’s 60th fight in his MMA career. Smith is a former UFC light heavyweight title challenger, sits now with a 38-22 record, and was on a 2 fight losing streak, prior to the Mingyang fight. Meanwhile Zhang was on a 11-fight win streak, with all first-round finishes, including knockouts of Ozzy Diaz, and Brendson Ribeiro.

The fight ended quickly and decisively. Zhang dominated from the start. He opened a severe cut on Smith’s head causing significant bleeding that caused a lot of problem for Smith, especially with his visibility now compromised. Zhang continued to assault Smith with a barrage of ground elbows, promoting the official to stop the fight. While Zhang improved his record to 19-6, Smith retired following his third-straight loss. Smith’s retirement decision comes after the death of his longtime coach, Scott Morton, and he admitted that the demise influenced his transition out of professional fighting.

Forever a fighter with the heart of a lion 🦁

Thank you for everything, Anthony Smith 👏 pic.twitter.com/jZ8LAiHO0M
— UFC (@ufc) April 27, 2025

After the fight, Smith flipped the bird after his stoppage loss, to a fan. Let’s find out why that happened.

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Anthony Smith Explains Post-Fight Gesture Following the Loss

Zhang dismantled Smith with a lot of elbows, and after the stoppage was called, while lifting up, Smith flipped off his middle finger and pointed it towards, what looked like, the camera. This created a lot of confusion amongst fans and reporters, so, when he was asked about it post-fight, Smith explained;

“There was a guy in a Nebraska shirt and he was like booing me and flipping me off and kind of talking trash before the fight. But I was really focused on what I had to do. Then after the fight, his friend is cheering and he’s still flipping me off and saying some pretty disrespectful things. I was so mad.”

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Smith is extremely happy and is looking forward to his retirement as the requirements of an MMA fighter, had placed a lot of burden on him which will now finally be lifted for him. So what’s next for the, now retired fighter? Smith will serve as analyst for UFC and ESPN, for his new chapter in life.

Also Read: Anthony Smith Reveals Reason Behind Post-Fight Gesture After UFC Kansas City Retirement Loss

Anthony Smith

UFC

UFC Kansas City

Eric Divakaran

nba

nfl

mma

I cover the National Football League and things cannot get better than that. I always dreamed to play football or basketball professionally since I’m built like a Running Back. But now that I can’t, since I’m technically in the “Unc” age, I thought why not pick a career in sports industry? So here I am, doing what I love, and hoping that the Commanders win the Super Bowl. I give love to players when it’s due, but can be critical about their performances at the same time. Enough about me, now let my articles do all the talking.