Anthony Smith reveals secret to never having withdrawn from a fight in professional career: "It goes back to this ego thing"

Anthony Smith's retirement fight will be against Mingyang Zhang in the light heavyweight co-main event of UFC Kansas City. It marks his 60th professional fight, and in a recent interview with Home of Fight, 'Lionheart' spoke about how he has never pulled out of a fight.

The astonished interviewer asked him about his cold professionalism and how he has managed to avoid pulling out of fights, which have plagued most mixed martial artists. In response, Smith said the following:

"Yeah, 59 professional fights, I've never pulled out of a fight. I don't know what the secret is. I think I just care so much that I always just find a way. I mean, it's not that I've never gotten an injury or dealing with some things or maybe in situations where I should've pulled out."

However, as he pondered the question, he eventually settled on a more concrete answer, and it revolved around Smith's well-known ego.

"I just... it goes back to this ego thing I can't shake. I like to think I'm a pretty humble person, but I can't say out loud that I can't do it. I'm just unable to say it. So, even when it's probably beneficial for me or would be in the best interest of my career, I just can't say it. So, even when I probably should have, I just couldn't bring myself to do it."

Check out Anthony Smith's reason for never withdrawing from a fight:

Despite an up-and-down career of 38 wins and 21 losses, Smith has always held his head high. Unfortunately, he is coming off back-to-back losses to Roman Dolidze and Dominick Reyes, the latter of whom TKO'd him. His last win, though, was a submission against the then-unbeaten Vitor Petrino.

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Anthony Smith was almost a UFC champion

While Anthony Smith has never been regarded as an elite fighter, he was once within touching distance of UFC championship gold. At UFC 235, he faced Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title. Despite a lackluster performance, 'Lionheart' found himself in a position to capture Jones' belt.

Jones had landed an illegal knee to Smith's head when he was a downed opponent. Had Smith simply declared his unwillingness to continue fighting, Jones would have lost via disqualification, and Smith would have been crowned the champion. Instead, Smith continued to fight.