Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith announced a couple of weeks ago that he wants to fight one more time before calling it a career, and he got his wish.
“Lionheart” will take on surging Chinese knockout artist Mingyang Zhang at UFC Kansas City on Sat. April 26, 2025, inside T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, according to MMAFighting.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Smith (37-21) is coming off a brutal stoppage loss against Dominick Reyes at UFC 310, where he teased retirement, and his boss, UFC CEO Dana White, said he should probably retire.
After a deep-diving ocean enlightenment in Puerto Rico, “Lionheart” decided not to call it a career.
While Smith is on a two-fight losing streak, he did score a submission win over then-undefeated prospect Vitor Petrino last year in Brazil.
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Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Zhang (18-6) has been lights out in Octagon since joining the promotion in 2023. The Chinese fighter has knocked both of his opponents (Brendson Ribeiro and Ozzy Diaz) in under three minutes (watch highlights) and is riding an 11-fight win streak.
Here is what UFC Kansas City looks like so far:
Anthony Smith vs. Mingyang ZhangMichel Pereira vs. Abusupiyan MagomedovGiga Chikadze vs. David OnamaIkram Aliskerov vs. Andre MunizPolyana Viana vs. Jaqueline AmorimAhmad Sohail Hassanzada vs. Mitch RamirezMalcolm Wellmaker vs. Cameron Saaiman
To check out UFC’s upcoming schedule of events, click here.
