“They should all retire tonight,” said Dana White after several veteran fighters failed to secure victories at UFC 310. Among them was former light-heavyweight title contender Anthony Smith, who suffered a ruthless defeat at the hands of Dominick Reyes. Notably, during the fight, Smith dropped his guard and screamed at Reyes to hit him harder. The reason? To feel something after the devastating loss of his coach and close friend, Scott Morton. Smith’s UFC career appears to be done and dusted. Interestingly, he has reportedly approached Hunter Campbell about pursuing a career in Power Slap.

While having a conversation with Ariel Helwani, the former light-heavyweight title contender emphasized that he targeted a PowerSlap debut after being shunned by the UFC, however, his move has been sidelined by the UFC top brass as Hunter Campbell straight out denied his bid to get involved with the young promotion, “I tried, they told me no. Straight-up,” said Anthony Smith.

He further added, “I asked Hunter, and he told me no. He wouldn’t even bring it to Dana! I understand; I know why. I’m more analytical in my analysis and in competition. And let’s be real, there’s no more analysis going on in Power Slap.”  Smith did not delve into Campbell’s rationale for halting his Power Slap ambitions, but the toll taken by the injuries Smith sustained throughout his fighting career may have influenced Campbell’s decision.

His decision to fight under the PowerSlap banner might have been rejected by Hunter Campbell, but the fans seem to have a different opinion of his words. Let’s have a look at what the fans are talking about.

Anthony Smith’s PowerSlap decision gets a mixed reaction from the fans

“I don’t give a f-ck about winning. At all. Not even a little bit. I haven’t even f–king thought about it,” said Anthony Smith as he was prepping to face Dominick Reyes at UFC 310. Scott Morton’s demise hit ‘LionHeart’ quite hard so much so that it looked like he only took to fight to feel something. Looking at this a fan wrote, “Man Anthony seems really self destructive. He ain’t been the same since that home invasion. That Reyes fight was hard to watch, hope he’s good.”

Anthony Smith has been with the promotion since 2011, and with a career spanning over a decade in the UFC, one fan suggested it might be time for the fighter to take a backseat from fighting, “He has expressed a lot of love for the “sport”. I hope he can nail down a desk job and talk about fights. He’s had a long career.” After the UFC CEO Dana White, Hunter Campbell is the one who has the power to decide, who can do what. If Campbell declines the offer, then it’s the final statement and a fan highlighted the same statement, “Hunter Campbell says your done then your done.” 

On the other hand, some fans weren’t so kind to the former light heavyweight title contender. One social media user criticised Smith in a scathing manner, “Pretty sure he already has brain damage for quite some time.” 

Anthony Smith fought Jon Jones back in 2019 and amidst the fight, Jones threw an illegal knee to Smith’s head which he was still grounded, which should have resulted in disqualification but ‘Lionheart’ insisted on fighting fair and square, however, he lost that bout by way of unanimous decision. One fan believes that Smith should have taken the DQ victory, “The dumbest thing he ever did was not take the DQ win against Jones. Champion, PPV points, and rematch against Jon. Smith is Dumb.” Last but not least, a fan just straight out questioned Smith’s self-respect,“I thought he had more self respect than that.”

Will it be Anthony Smith’s final goodbye to the combat sports world, or will we witness more from ‘LionHeart’? State your thoughts in the comments below.