Anthony Smith has a date and opponent for his final walk to the octagon, which will go down in April.
Former UFC title challenger and longtime MMA fighter Smith (37-21 MMA, 13-11 UFC) will compete in his retirement bout against Zhang Mingyang (18-6 MMA, 2-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night in Kansas City, which takes place April 26. Broadcast plans have not been revealed.
Two people with knowledge of the situation told MMA Junkie that both fighters have agreed to the light heavyweight matchup. The people requested anonymity because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMAFighting.com first reporters news of the date and location.
Smith, 36, almost walked away from competition in December when he suffered a TKO loss to Dominick Reyes at UFC 310 in a bout where he entered with a heavy heart. Following the death of his longtime friend and coach during camp, Smith opened up about how it would be difficult to continue his career, but would likely do one more bout.
That contest is now on tap against Mingyang, 26, who is off to a hot start in his UFC career with back-to-back first-round knockout wins. The Chinese fighter has eared all of his career victories by stoppage, and to make it more emphatic, has stopped all of his opponents inside the opening stanza.
The latest UFC Fight Night lineup now includes:
- Michel Pereira vs. Abus Magomedov
- Giga Chikadze vs. David Onama
- Ikram Aliskerov vs. Andre Muniz
- Ahmad Hassanzada vs. Mitch Ramirez
- Jaqueline Amorim vs. Polyana Viana
- Cameron Saaiman vs. Malcolm Wellmaker
- Zhang Mingyang vs. Anthony Smith
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