“My mom was my biggest fan, man! If it wasn’t for her, obviously, she’s my mom, so there’s no Anthony Smith, but there’s also no Lionheart without her.” Anthony Smith shared these heartfelt words in an MMA Junkie interview before his fight with Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 277. ‘Lionheart’ has always been known for his crazy strong heart and mind. But after losing his beloved mother, everything changed for him. And what followed was just an excruciatingly brutal experience.

Smith was on one of the best runs of his career, riding a three-fight win streak. The former 205lbs title challenger knew if he could just get past Magomed Ankalaev, he would be right back in the mix after falling short to Jon Jones at UFC 235. But then, life just crushed him. His mom, Dixie Jean Tonacchio, passed away on May 6, 2022. After that, things just spiraled! ‘Lionheart’ fought Ankalaev, lost the fight, and even broke his ankle.

Smith was supposed to fight Jamahal Hill after that, but ‘Sweet Dreams’ got rebooked for a title shot against Glover Teixeira at UFC 283 in Brazil and clinched the title. On the other hand, Smith stepped in to serve as backup, but he missed weight by 4 pounds. After that, Johnny Walker popped up as his next opponent at the UFC Charlotte event. Before the fight, Smith opened up about his brutal struggles with surgeries after the Ankalaev clash. ‘Lionheart’ revealed to Yahoo Sports how an anaphylactic reaction and blood clots nearly killed him.

A week after UFC 277, Smith had surgery and was placed in a cast. Still, he didn’t wish to take any time off and went to San Diego to attend to his ESPN desk duties for a card headlined by Dominick Cruz and Marlon Vera. For the next two weeks, he continued to work in Vegas and then in Paris. This is where the issues started.

“I had surgery on my ankle and leg on a Saturday, and by Thursday, I was in San Diego working the fights there. Then the next weekend I was in Vegas, and the weekend after that I was in Paris. I was flying all over the country, all over the world, and I was in a cast. It’s kind of messed up. I almost died. The day before I went to Paris, I had an anaphylactic reaction to the antibiotics and the blood thinner. I was in the hospital until 4 or 5 in the morning, the day of leaving to go to Paris. I was losing my airway. It was terrible,” Smith revealed.

Smith had to walk on crutches and was at risk of falling owing to the heavy dosage of blood thinners. Moreover, he had to visit the clinic for the next four months as the doctors weren’t sure about the reason for this anaphylactic reaction. Proving why he’s called ‘Lionheart’, Smith said, “I get to do this but I don’t have to do this,” Smith said. “I’m doing this because I want to, because I love to do it, not because I have to. Knowing that, having that mindset change, makes a big difference. A lot of times, people think, ‘I have to do this. I need to win. I need the money.’ But for me, thankfully, it’s different. I don’t need the money. I don’t need to win. I want to. I want to fight.”

This was definitely the hardest time in Smith’s life. He told MMA Junkie about another moment years ago when he got into a car crash at 19 after his grandfather died, and he almost didn’t make it. Luckily, he pulled through and had his mother and a few close friends by his side. But this time, even though his wife and kids were there for him, it was a little different. His mom wasn’t there to comfort him, and that made everything way harder to deal with.

Smith added, “I’m dealing with the loss of my mom better as time goes on. I’ve lived a crazy life. I’m not even 35, and I don’t have any parents left. I buried both of my parents in the past three years. I have no grandparents. I have no family. It’s just me and my own family that I’ve built. It’s me, my wife, and my kids. It’s all I’ve got in this whole world. I had to do the mental work to get to a good place and stop feeling sorry for myself. As I said, I had to realize it’s OK to not be OK all the time. I’m sure I’ll have a couple of breakdowns and I’ll cry about it this week, but I’ll get back to training.”

Honestly, this just shows why they call him ‘Lionheart.’ The former title challenger has been through so much, but still gave us some wild fights. Now, he’s finally gonna ride off into the sunset, facing Zhang Mingyang in his last fight at UFC Kansas. And really, Smith’s just thankful to have this chance to walk away on his own terms.

Anthony Smith feels happy to retire without a world title

Anthony Smith came close to winning the light heavyweight title against Jon Jones. Well, not in a competitive way but by chance. For the unversed, Jones struck Smith an illegal knee while he was grounded in their UFC 235 bout. If Smith had said he couldn’t continue, the referee wouldn’t have had any choice but to declare ‘Lionheart’ the new champion. Remember Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan 1? An exact scenario. However, Smith refused and continued, and ultimately fell short in winning the gold.

He had setbacks, comebacks, and gave it everything he had, trying to get there. Now, with his last fight coming up, he’s ready to lay his gloves down. And honestly, there’s nothing but pure contentment in his voice. Smith’s happy, man. He’s good with retiring, even without a belt around his waist.

Smith told Ariel Helwani, “I don’t mean this to sound cocky or arrogant. But I’ve never felt like I’ve done something worth celebrating. I’ve never felt like I should be celebrated. It’s never like a thing that I’ve looked for. But I feel like now I’ve put in a fu—-g career that I should be proud of. And, I deserve to be able to celebrate it and be happy about it, whether I didn’t win a world title or not. That was always the goal. Like I didn’t think I’d be happy if I didn’t win it.”

Now, as we are very close to seeing the end of his career, what do you think about Anthony Smith’s career? Please drop your thoughts in the comment box below.