Anthony Smith (38-22 MMA, 13-12 UFC) didn't go out the way he'd have preferred – with a win, obviously – but his first-round TKO loss to light heavyweight rising star Zhang Mingyang (19-6 MMA, 3-0 UFC) that left him a bloody mess in the cage while he watched a UFC-produced sendoff video was pretty appropriate for "Lionheart.

Anthony Smith did not get his fairytale ending. The longtime UFC veteran suffered a brutal stoppage loss at the hands of China's Zhang Mingyang in his retirement bout on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Kansas City,

Anthony Smith, the UFC light heavyweight veteran known as “Lionheart,” officially retired from mixed martial arts after a first-round TKO loss to Zhang Mingyang in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night Kansas City on April 26 2025.