Anthony Smith capped off his career on his own terms, but not in the way he’d have hoped for. ‘Lionheart’ succumbed to a first-round TKO defeat after getting busted open in the head by Zhang Mingyang. As the Chinese star announced his arrival, Smith finished his career with 60 professional fights, but in a bloody mess. However, the UFC prepared a well-deserved montage of his illustrious career.

‘Lionheart’s MMA career ended just within the first five minutes. Zhang Mingyang proved that he’s got game as he landed a total of 76 strikes compared to Anthony Smith’s 22. He even defended the veteran’s one and only attempt to take him down, sealing the deal with some ground-and-pound and taking the victory. “If you don’t know, now you know,” Mingyang blatantly stated during the Octagon interview.

Meanwhile, hours after the fight went down, Anthony Smith opened up on his last fight and gave Zhang Mingyang his props for the dominant win. Additionally, he thanked his fans in an emotional post on social media, claiming he didn’t see himself as a top-level fighter, and seemed rather satisfied with how his career panned out and that he landed in the UFC.

“That’s a wrap! Congrats to Zhang. The LHW division is on notice. You’re gonna have a great career,” Anthony Smith wrote on Instagram. “Thank you to all the people who have supported me all these years. I was never good enough to make it this far…I’m just really happy that it all happened. Thank you to the ufc for saving my life.”

Anthony Smith may have ended his career fighting Zhang Mingyang, but he did not expect to fight the Chinese fighter. But after having a chat with the UFC brass, he claimed that the fight made perfect sense. Let’s take a look at that front.

Anthony Smith claimed that he was surprised by his retirement fight opponent

It’s not like Anthony Smith was being picky about his final opponent in the UFC, because most fighters have to fight whoever they’re offered by the matchmaking team. But when he got to know about his opponent for his last fight, ‘Lionheart’ wasn’t quite sure who the fighter really was. Well, it’s not Smith’s fault since Zhang Mingyang is relatively new in the UFC. But Mick Maynard talked him into going ahead with the Chinese fighter as his retirement opponent.

“I had the same conversation with Mick Maynard in Anaheim when I got the name. I was a little bit taken…  I just didn’t know who he was. I had never even heard his name before,” Anthony Smith told MMA Fighting. “I looked him up a little bit, and I went down to the floor during the event, during one of the breaks between fights, and just said, ‘Why? Why this guy?’ He gave me a super thoughtful explanation. I said, ‘OK, yeah, whatever. If that’s what you want.'”

But now that it’s all over, what’s next for Anthony Smith? Well, we don’t know yet, but we can assume that we might see him on the UFC’s broadcast team often. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.