LAS VEGAS – Anthony Smith is fighting for a different and very personal reason when he steps into the octagon with Dominick Reyes at UFC 310.
In a matchup of former light heavyweight title challengers, Smith (37-20 MMA, 13-10 UFC) is set to take on Reyes (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) on Saturday’s card at T-Mobile Arena (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, Hulu, ESPN+) in what is an important fight in the overall landscape in the careers of both participants.
All of that is moot to Smith, however, because just three weeks ago, he went through a personal tragedy. His longtime friend and coach Scott Morton suddenly died, and “Lionheart” is reeling from the fallout.
“I need to destroy something,” Smith told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 310 media day. “That’s why I’m here. It might be myself. Maybe I run into a f*cking buzzsaw and leave not the same way I came here, and I’m good with that, too. I went to fight Alexander Gustafsson right after I fought Jon Jones, and I didn’t go there to win, either. I wanted to punch someone in the face because I felt so sh*tty about losing the title fight.
“Saturday, I want to f*cking break something, and this is my outlet. I can’t do what I really want to do inside, anywhere else, with no consequences. That’s why I’m here. I don’t give a f*ck about winning. At all. Not even a little bit. I haven’t even f*cking thought about it. I want to f*cking break something, and here’s where I get to do that.”
Smith has been through many trying moments in his personal and competitive life. Despite another one being thrown his way, he pushed forward and showed up to UFC 310 fight week.
He hinted that he didn’t do that so he could honor Morton’s memory, though. That’s not enough in his mind to do justice for the relationship they had.
“Not at all (fighting in his memory),” Smith said. “The smallest thing that Scott was to me is a coach. He was like my mentor and my big brother and I’ve never lived as an adult without Scott guiding me through life. So this fighting sh*t is really fake at the end of the day. This a big f*cking dog-and-pony show. I don’t give a sh*t about any of that. But getting a win and having the opportunity to tell the world about him afterwards, stand there with Joe Rogan, means a lot. That will be cool for me. But in terms of anything else, it doesn’t matter.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.
