Anthony ͏Smith vs. Dominick ͏Reyes was a hear͏tb͏reaking fi͏ght for fans to watch. ‘͏Lionheart’ ͏was g͏rap͏pling wit͏h the emotional pain of losing his coach and longt͏ime fr͏iend, ͏Scott Morton, ju͏st three weeks bef͏or͏e t͏he bout. The wei͏ght of this g͏rief, combined with the pre͏ssure to honor his coach’s memory, see͏med͏ to͏ diminish ͏the fi͏ghting spiri͏t within Smith. During ͏the fight, ‘Lionheart’ lower͏ed his gua͏rd and even i͏m͏plor͏ed Rey͏es͏ to͏ “beat him u͏p.” As the fighter deals with the emotional toll of losing a friend, Mike Tyson’s former coach Teddy Atlas has come forward with some encouraging words for Smith despite Jon Jones’s trolling.

Sharing a picture of Anthony Smith on his Instagram timeline, the legendary boxing coach captioned it with a heartwarming message that said, “He fought everyone & refused to win the belt by DQ, but earned a Title a parent hopes for. Someone who teaches us that we can be more than we ever knew.”Well, ‘Lionheart’ could use some reassuring words, as he appears to be deeply shaken at the moment. However, Jon Jones’s comment might have only added salt to his already aching wound.

The heav͏yweight champion͏ took to h͏is͏ X handle to uploa͏d a photo͏ of ͏both fighters and captioning it with, “Watching͏ my so͏ns fight.”The comment could not have come at a worse time. However, it should be noted that Jones might not have been aware of Smith’s loss when making the post.

Regardless, you might be wondering about the DQ story that has been mentioned by Atlas. Well, back in UFC 235, Jon Jones defended his title against Anthony Smith and in the fourth round of their encounter, ‘Bones’ threw an illegal knee to ‘Lionheart’s head. Referee Herb Dean immediately stopped the match and emphasized that Smith should take the DQ win and walk away with the title but Smith refused to take the title as a gift and came back to take on Jones again.

Teddy Atlas cited the exact incident and explained that Smith shouldn’t be disheartened by the loss and should hold his head high. But Smith could not have cared less about the fight. He was so distraught in his battle with Reyes that he even asked ‘The Devastator’ to beat him up.

Dominick Reyes sheds some light on his fight against Anthony Smith

Dominick Reyes defeated Anthony Smith by way of knockout as the referee stopped the match in the second round. After the loss, we could witness an emotional Smith. Regardless, at the post-fight press conference, ‘The Devastator’ emphasized that Smith didn’t come here to win at all rather he was here to feel something after the death of his close friend, “There was a point in the first round when he put his hands down and was just like ‘Punch me in the face,’ and I obliged…. That’s my job, my job is to finish you and get you out of there.”

He further added, “Whether you are going through something or not, if you’re going to give me free shots or not, I’m going to hit you – we’re professional fighters, this is a very dangerous game you know, God bless Anthony.” Reyes further explained that Anthony Smith is a warrior and he should hold his head high despite the loss.

Well, Scott Morton wanted Smith to retire from the sport and it appears that the fighter might just put his gloves down after a decades-long MMA career, “Man, I don’t even give a f–k about the fight. I don’t know how many more times I can do this. This guy was my best friend, and I thought I could push it down, but I couldn’t even control it walking in here, so I don’t know, I’ve gotta do some thinking, but I don’t know how many times I can do this without him.” said Smith in the Octagon interview.

What’s your take on the fight? Is this it for Smith? State your thoughts in the comments below.