"I've never felt grief like this ever" - Anthony Smith opens up about dealing with friend and coach Scott Morton passing away before UFC 310
UFC 310 couldn't have been more difficult for Anthony Smith. Not only did he face a rejuvenated Dominick Reyes, who was once one of the light heavyweight division's most fearsome power-punchers, he did so while dealing with grief.
Now, in a sitdown on Sirius XM's MMA Today show, he touched on how difficult an experience it was.
'Lionheart' entered the fight dealing with the death of Scott Morton, who was both his friend and coach. In fact, he could be seen holding back tears on his way to the octagon, which caused the commentary team to question whether he should even be fighting given the state of his mind.
Now, Smith has spoken about the depth of suffering he experienced with the loss of Morton, which was only compounded by his loss to Reyes at UFC 310:
"I don't give a f**k how messed up this sounds. I've had a lot of loss these last couple of years. I buried both my parents, my closest aunt and uncle died within three weeks of each other. They can all stay gone if I could get Scotty back. I've never felt grief like this ever. I was raised by a single mom. It's f**king crazy."
Check out Anthony Smith discussing the death of Scott Morton (1:26):
Smith and Morton have been together in pivotal moments of their respective careers. When Morton made his final walk to the cage, Smith was making his first. He had been with 'Lionheart' for every major milestone, including his lone crack at UFC gold when he faced the great Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title.
Anthony Smith has struggled in his MMA career as of late
At 36 years old with 59 professional MMA fights, Anthony Smith is as tenured as they come. Unfortunately, his career hasn't always been sunshine and roses.
'Lionheart' spent the majority of his career seen as a journeyman by some, who have regarded him as a serviceable fighter but not a remarkable one. Things, though, have only worsened in recent years.
While he has proved himself against young up-and-comers like Vitor Petrino and the dangerous Ryan Spann, 'Lionheart' has consistently failed to beat the upper echelon of any UFC division he has competed in, and has lost five of his last seven bouts, causing UFC CEO Dana White to encourage him to retire.