How diving in Puerto Rico made UFC's Anthony Smith realize he's not done fighting

Today at 07:40 PM

Former UFC title challenger Anthony Smith still has some fight left in him.

Smith (38-21 MMA, 13-11 UFC) contemplated retirement after a TKO loss to Dominick Reyes last month at UFC 310. It was an emotional fight for Smith, who had recently lost his longtime friend and coach, Scott Morton.

However, a particular moment during Smith’s recent trip to Puerto Rico changed his entire outlook on the future.

“In that moment, I almost did just retire right then. But what I didn’t want to do is make a decision based on emotions,” Smith said on his “On Paper with Anthony Smith” podcast. “While I was in Puerto Rico, I was diving with a stranger, which is a little bit uncomfortable, so you’re super hyper-focused. I was 70 feet underwater, looking at this incredible scenery around me.

“And I was able to let in something small like, ‘OK b*tch, you’re down here, the world is shut out, what are you going to do?’ And that’s when I decided. It was when I was diving. It was the only time that I was able to shut the entire world out and focus on this one thing and then just let in a little bit of like, ‘What are you going to do with your life? What’s your plan?”

Smith was so overcome with emotions during his fight with Reyes that he dropped his hands and asked to be punched during the fight. Considering the circumstances he was dealing with before and during the fight, “Lionheart” would like to give himself a fair shake before calling it a career.

“My first thought was, ‘I can’t go out like that,’ like, crying on my walkout and then getting into the octagon, and I’m bawling, and I can’t look at my kids because I’m too upset,” Smith said. “Then letting a guy punch me in the face because I just want to feel something other than grief.

“You can’t retire like that. I’m not even saying I need a win. I just need some circumstances that are a little bit favorable would be nice. If I can just get a training camp where no one dies, that would be cool. That would be a positive. Go in and just give it my all for seven, eight weeks, get into the best shape I can, and go have a fun fight, see what happens, and then we get the hell out of here.”