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‘What a terrible stoppage’: Pros react to Anthony Smith getting bloody beatdown in retirement fight

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mmafighting.com 
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

Anthony Smith received one last reminder that the fight game is as harsh as it gets.

“Lionheart” entered Saturday’s UFC Kansas City co-main event knowing it would be the final fight of his 17-year career, but he was surely hoping for a better outcome as he was battered and bloodied by fast-rising light heavyweight contender Zhang Mingyang.

Zhang hurt Smith with an elbow in the opening round and then finished with ground-and-pound as Smith’s blood splashed the canvas. Referee Jason Herzog gave Smith plenty of time to recover, but it became clear there was no coming back from Zhang’s assault and Herzog signaled the end of the fight—and Smith’s career—at the 4:03 mark.

Unsurprisingly, Smith’s peers praised him for his efforts and for his contributions to MMA, though former UFC champion Rafael dos Anjos took umbrage with what he perceived to be a late stoppage.

“What a terrible stoppage,” Dos Anjos wrote. “Get this man fired.”

“Anthony Smith has fought all the [killers in] his career,” Dos Anjos also wrote. “Guy is a beast. Happy retirement.”

Check out social media reactions to Smith’s last fight below.