Michael Bisping doesn’t think we’ve seen the last of Anthony Smith after UFC 310.
Smith suffered a second-round TKO to Dominick Reyes on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena – his fifth loss in his past seven fights. “Lionheart” couldn’t contain his emotions while walking out to his fight after recently losing his longtime friend and coach, Scott Morton.
Reyes revealed that Smith dropped his hands and asked to be punched during the fight. A visibly distraught Smith addressed the fans after the loss and admitted he’s unsure how many times he could compete without his coach by his side. While he didn’t commit to retirement, he said it would “probably” be his last fight.
Bisping believes Smith (38-21 MMA, 13-11 UFC) won’t want this to be his lasting memory in the octagon.
“I don’t think he should’ve taken that fight at all,” Bisping said of Smith on his “Believe You Me” podcast. “I understand his reasoning for that. Maybe to give him something to train for, a way to honor the memory of (Scott) or whatever the case may be, but people won’t remember that when they look back. I feel for Anthony. … He gets paid very handsomely, so obviously there’s that.
“I don’t think he will retire. I think when he watches that back, he’s going to be embarrassed when he watches that, and that’s going to fuel him to want to come back and want to fight again. I’d like to see him fight again because I don’t believe that the world deserves to remember him like that. That wasn’t Anthony at his best.”
Bisping’s message to Smith
If Smith does decide to continue fighting, Bisping urges him to take the fight prep seriously.
“This isn’t a sport that you play, and that’s why people say he needs to retire,” Bisping said. “That’s why Dana (White) says Chris Weidman and Clay Guida need to retire because the more times you step in there and certainly when you get older, and you start getting a bit more frail, and you don’t recover quite, as well. That sh*t will stay with you.
“If he fights, I’m going to give him a call and just say, ‘If you do this, do it for the right reasons. Train as if you’re training for a world title fight, as if you’re going up against Jon Jones.’ You’ve got to leave no stone unturned, otherwise if you’re not willing to do that, then don’t even think about it in the first place.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.
