"Anthony Smith is a beast for continuing to fight" - UFC fighters and fans react to 'Lionheart' seemingly heading into R2 against Magomed Ankalaev with a broken leg

UFC 277 turned out to be an unfortunate night for light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith as he suffered a leg injury in his fight against Magomed Ankalaev on the main card of the event.

The injury seemingly occurred in the final moments of the first round. 'Lionheart' struggled to fight to his full potentital in the next round. Anakalev capitalized on the opportunity and scored a TKO victory in the second round.

Several MMA fighters and personalities took to Twitter to share their thoughts on what went down between Ankalaev and Smith.

Alan Jouban said it was a "shame" how things unfolded in the light heavyweight matchup.

Interestingly, UFC middleweight Derek Brunson teased an eventual move up to light heavyweight.

Belal Muhammad also commented on the unfortunate turn of events, saying Ankalaev's name should be in discussion for a title fight.

Jamahal Hill wished 'Lionheart' a speedy recovery in his tweet.

One Twitter user praised Smith for continuing the fight despite the injury.

A few more tweets from MMA fighters, personalities and fans on the fight can be seen below:

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With his win over Anthony Smith, Magomed Ankalaev is now 9-1 in the UFC

Magomed Ankalaev is on an incredible run in the UFC's light heavyweight division. With his victory over Anthony Smith at UFC 277, the 30-year-old extended his winning streak to nine.

Ankalaev's only loss came in his UFC debut against Paul Craig. However, the Dagestani has seemingly grown leaps and bounds since then.

With his win on July 30, Anakalev has made a strong case for a title shot and could possibly be next in line to fight champion Jiri Prochazka.

In a backstage interview after the fight, Anakalev said that although he deserved to fight for the championship belt next, he would be open to fighting someone else, given that the opponent is also in contention for a title shot.

"I'm the type of fighter that'll accept all the fights. Honestly, in my opinion, I believe I deserve the title shot but if UFC will give me another fight, someone who's a title contender also, I'll accept the fight," said Magomed Anakalev via translator.