Two former light heavyweight title challengers faced off on the UFC 310 prelims on Saturday, as Dominick Reyes, coming off his first win in years, took on Anthony Smith.
Smith, a near 60-fight veteran of the sport, had thrown a wrench in the works when he missed weight on Friday, by a pound and a half. He did weigh in a second time, successfully making weight at 205.5lbs, but how drained “Lionheart” was would be a question in the fight.
On top of that, Smith was also reeling from the loss of coach Scotty Morton, who passed away suddenly this year. Morton had been a driving force in Smith’s fighting career since he was 17.
Anthony Smith attempted a takedown early, but Reyes fended it off. An eye poke by Smith forced a momentary stoppage in the action. Once Reyes’ eye recovered, the two got back to trading on the feet. With both were taking wild swings at each other, Smith landed a good right hand. Reyes answered by putting the pressure on Smith and fired an uppercut to left hand combination. Reyes then landed multiple consecutive jabs and left hands and Smith stuck out his tongue while retreating, inviting more strikes from Reyes. This last sequence gave Reyes the round after a relatively even back and forth in the first four and a half minutes.
Once again, Smith attempted a single-leg takedown early in the second round. Reyes successfully defended the takedown and landed brutal elbows while Smith was holding onto the leg. The accumulation forced Smith to his knees, but he refused to let go of the leg and Reyes kept pounding away. With “Lionheart” holding on for dear life, Reyes worked his way to the back and used the position to take a couple deep breaths before resuming his ground and pound. The lack of defence from Smith gave Marc Goddard no choice but to stop the fight in the dying seconds of the round.
After the loss, a visibly emotional Anthony Smith took his gloves off and told Joe Rogan this was probably his last walk to the octagon. He felt unsure he could keep fighting after losing his best friend and coach during training camp.
Official Result: Dominick Reyes def. Anthony Smith by TKO, Round 2, 4:46
