Anthony Smith has a date and opponent for his closing stroll to the octagon, which can 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 in opposition to Zhang Mingyang (18-6 MMA, 2-0 UFC) at UFC Combat Night time in Kansas Metropolis, which takes place April 26. Broadcast plans haven’t been revealed.
Two individuals with information of the scenario informed MMA Junkie that each fighters have agreed to the sunshine heavyweight matchup. The individuals requested anonymity as a result of the promotion has but to make an official announcement. MMAFighting.com first reported information of the date and site.
Smith, 36, virtually walked away from competitors in December when he suffered a TKO loss to Dominick Reyes at UFC 310 in a bout the place he entered with a heavy coronary heart. Following the loss of life of his longtime pal and coach throughout camp, Smith opened up about how it will be troublesome to proceed his profession, however would possible do yet one more bout.
That contest is now on faucet in opposition to Mingyang, 26, who’s off to a scorching begin in his UFC profession with back-to-back first-round knockout wins. The Chinese language fighter has eared all of his profession victories by stoppage, and to make it extra emphatic, has stopped all of his opponents contained in the opening stanza.
The most recent UFC Combat Night time lineup now consists of:
- 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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