"In 29 years, he had never seen in combat sports" - Anthony Smith on doctor's reaction to his UFC 277 leg break

Anthony Smith recently described the weird nature of his leg break during his UFC 277 fight against Magomed Ankalaev.

'Lionheart' suffered a fracture in his leg during the course of the bout. He went on to explain the sequence that caused the injury. He said that his leg went numb after Ankalaev countered with a leg kick. Smith said that he lost feeling in his leg and that he believes it was due to a nerve getting damaged. Based on this explanation, it seems like this is exactly what happened to Jimmy Crute when he fought Anthony Smith. Crute got caught with a hard leg kick just behind the knee, resulting in his leg immediately going limp.

Here's what 'Lionheart' stated while talking to Michael Bisping on the Believe You Me podcast:

"I threw this hard overhand and it was just a little short and he came back with a hard leg kick. And my whole leg went numb from the knee down... I didn't really think anything of it though. Just hit a weird nerve and your leg goes numb. Shortly after that we got tangled up. In opposite stances your feet get tangled up sometimes. And I went to step back with my left foot, it was like wasn't anything there, it was weird."

Smith eventually suffered a TKO loss during the second-round of the fight. He further added that Dr. Davis, who is the main doctor of the UFC, told him that he hasn't seen anything like that injury in his 29 years of experience in combat sports:

"It's not like a typical combat sports break. It's a weird break. Doctor D said, in 29 years, he has never seen in combat sports... Apparently it's in my ankle, but it's a continuation of my leg bone."

Watch Anthony Smith talk to Michael Bisping:

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Can Anthony Smith ever become a UFC champion?

Anthony Smith is currently 34 years old. One might argue that he is in his athletic prime at this point in time. Given his performances heading into his fight against Ankalaev at UFC 277, it looked like 'Lionheart' might earn himself another title shot.

He won three back-to-back fights via first-round finishes against top prospects in the light heavyweight division. However, his outing this past weekend didn't go according to plan.

Smith has already challenged for the UFC title once in his career. He came up short against Jon Jones on that occasion. Despite his recent loss, 'Lionheart' is still ranked No.5 in the light heavyweight division of the UFC and it won't be surprising to see him fight for the title again in the near future.