Retiring Anthony Smith ‘had no idea’ who his UFC Kansas City opponent was when offered

“Mountain Tiger”? Who’s that?

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith returns to action for the final time against Chinese knockout artist Zhang Mingyang at UFC Kansas City this weekend (Sat., April 26, 2025) from inside T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Indeed, Smith will make the walk one more time to the world-famous Octagon against a relative newcomer, nobody compared to the elite fighters he competed against over the last seven years.

Remarkably, Smith admitted he didn’t know who Zhang was when UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard offered the matchup.

“These things go two different ways: you get a young, upcoming monster, or you get a legacy fight with another aging guy; typically, it’s the former,” Smith said on ESPN’s Good Guy/Bad Guy. “I expected it to be someone young, but I had no idea who this kid was, and that’s not me being disrespectful; I just never heard his name before.”

“Lionheart” expressed relief at avoiding an easy final opponent.

“I’m happy that he is as tough as he is because I would have felt weird coming in here fighting the ghost of somebody else,” Smith told reporters at UFC Kansas City media day. “I didn’t want an easy fight. I never asked for an easy fight, so I’m happy that this guy will go on, win or lose, to have an incredible run and career in the UFC. I think it’ll age well when it’s all said and done.”

Smith already fought the ‘ghost’ of someone back at UFC 225 (watch highlights).

Nevertheless, the soon-to-be 60-fight veteran will definitely have his hands full as he takes on Zhang, who holds a 100 percent finish rate with all of his wins coming in the first round.

Sound familiar?

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Kansas City fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” undercard bouts at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining main card balance on ESPN2/ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET.

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