Anthony Smith Reveals Why He Flipped Off Fan in Aftermath of Farewell Fight

Anthony Smith should have fought this dude in the crowd before retiring #UFCKansasCity
pic.twitter.com/oyM4cyWMka

— Delinquent MMA (@DelinquentMMA) April 27, 2025

Apparently not everyone in attendance at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City was there to pay tribute to Anthony Smith as he officially called it a career on Saturday night.

Shortly after the former light heavyweight title challenger suffered a bloody technical knockout loss to Mingyang Zhang in the UFC Kansas City co-main event, “Lionheart” walked to one side of the Octagon, where he appeared to yell and flip the bird to someone in the crowd.

As it turns out, the fan in question had been taunting Smith even before the fight began.

“There was a guy in a Nebraska shirt and he was like booing me and flipping me off and kind of talking trash before the fight,” Smith said on ESPN+ post-fight show. “But I was really focused on what I had to do. Then after the fight, his friend is cheering and he’s still flipping me off and saying some pretty disrespectful things.

“I was so mad. He was wearing a Nebraska shirt. We’re supposed to be family here. It’s not a very big community of people here. … I just couldn’t believe that. I pour my heart and soul into this game and I don’t care if you think that I suck or that I’m not very good, if you’re sitting in the crowd, you’re definitely not doing what I’m doing, especially wearing a Nebraska shirt. You can’t talk trash wearing a Nebraska shirt. Like come on now. That’s all that was.”

The moment was short-lived, and Smith moved on to have his moment in the Octagon, which included some time on the microphone and a video tribute. The 36-year-old Omaha, Nebraska native exits the sport with a 38-22 career mark. His UFC tenure found new life in 2018 when he earned successive victories over Rashad Evans, Mauricio Rua and Volkan Oezdemir to earn a 205-pound title shot. Though “Lionheart” lost a unanimous decision to Jon Jones at UFC 235, he has remained a prominent figure in the promotion, often working as an analyst when he wasn’t fighting.

“It’s weird,” Smith said. “Because I’m used to fighting, whether you win or you lose, you go onto whatever’s next. You start rolling through this Rolodex like, 'All right, I lost, so I’ve got to find this guy, I’ve got to chase this ranking.' You win, you’re looking ahead. There is nothing else. “So I’m refusing to be sad. I shouldn’t be allowed to be sad. It’s been a long journey. I’ve been doing this since I was 17 years old, I’m going to be 37 in a couple of months. I got enough. I built my life around what I was able to do in this sport. It’s afforded me opportunities I was never, ever able to have. I’m forcing myself to be happy that it happened and not sad that it’s over.”