Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith is carrying enormous weight on his shoulders ahead of his UFC 310 showdown with Dominick Reyes.
Anthony Smith is arguably in a ‘must-win’ situation ahead of UFC 310. But for the former title challenger, winning is the furthest from his mind ahead of his upcoming clash with the always-dangerous Dominick Reyes.
Smith and his team are in the initial stages of grief after the loss of coach Scott Morton last month. Smith and Morton were inseparable during the former’s UFC career, including when Smith fought for the belt against Jon Jones.
For the first time in Smith’s career, Morton won’t be by his side as he makes the walk to the Octagon in front of thousands of fans on Saturday night. Ahead of UFC 310, Smith was brutally honest about what these final days before another fight mean to him.
Anthony Smith: ‘Something has to be destroyed’ after tragic loss
During a recent interview with ESPN‘s Brett Okamoto, Smith opened up on his state of mind amidst dealing with the loss of his friend and preparing for a big spotlight.
“To be honest, I don’t want to be here,” Smith said. “I would’ve rather flown in Thursday night, weighed in Friday morning and just fought and leave. Sometimes, this whole fight week thing is a big f***ing circus, it’s not real. The basis of everything is the actual fight, all this other dog and pony show, it makes it something that it’s not. Where I’m at personally, I just don’t give a s*** about the circus show. The lights, cameras, comments, people that don’t actually know what the f*** they’re talking about, trying to pretend they do…
“Something has to be destroyed, whether it’s him or me. Something has to break. I think I have a f***ed up mindset when things aren’t going my way, something has to break. It’s kind of like I have to throw a tantrum a bit like a kid…it has to go somewhere, or I’ll go insane…[Scott] built a foundation in which I’ve been standing my whole career. Started training with Scotty when I was 17, 18, and our connection was tight right away. I’ve never lived as an adult without him, I don’t know what the future is like and how I stay here, without him.”
As of this writing, Morton’s cause of death hasn’t been made public. Smith went on to explain how one of Morton’s final wishes was for him to walk away from fighting soon, and UFC 310 could be his final Octagon appearance.
Anthony Smith looks to snap losing skid in potential UFC finale
While grieving the loss of his longtime friend and coach, Smith is looking to get back on track in his fighting career after a string of recent defeats. After initially being on the cusp of a title shot against Alex Pereira, Smith has sled out of the title mix at 205lbs.
In recent years, Smith hasn’t pulled punches when discussing his love-hate relationship with mixed martial arts and fighting. He’s hinted at retirement numerous times during his up-and-down run in the UFC, including after his most recent loss to Roman Dolidze at UFC 303.
Smith is looking to get back in the win column after losses in four of his last six fights. His last win came against Vitor Petrino by first-round submission at UFC 301.
Regardless of Saturday’s fight result, Smith has his fallen friend on his mind ahead of UFC 310. In what could potentially be his last UFC hurrah, Smith will look to pay tribute to Morton and put on another signature performance.