"Why am I still doing this?" - Anthony Smith admits to being conflicted about retirement, says he doesn't want to be "forced out"

Anthony Smith suffered his third loss in his past four bouts at UFC Fight Night 233 as he lost to Khalil Rountree Jr. via a vicious third-round TKO. 'Lionheart' recently admitted that he questioned his future in mixed martial arts following the bout. Speaking to Michael Bisping on the Believe You Me podcast, the No.10-ranked light heavyweight stated:

"I don’t want to be the guy that has people telling you that you need to leave. I’d like to go out on my own terms and I don’t want to be forced out. Those questions and those doubts come in, like, ‘Do I belong here? Why am I still doing this?’ Am I doing this because it’s all I know? Because I don’t need the money. I don’t need to take unnecessary damage. I don’t need to get knocked out for no reason.

"The money is nice and the paychecks are cool and the adrenaline rush that you get from being in there is awesome, but am I just doing this because I don’t know anything else? It’s all I know, it’s all I’ve done my whole adult life. I just kind of remove myself from everything and just cut away from all the outside input and just try to figure out what do I really want. Why am I still doing this? Do I still want to fight because I like fighting or is it just because it’s familiar?"

Smith continued his reflection, adding:

"I think I came to the conclusion that I still like fighting and I still want to do it. There’s some things that need to change though. Not just in my game and my style. I had a conversation with Glover [Teixeira] that I think really helped a lot. Just as we age, you have to change some things. It’s not that you have to quit fighting, it’s not like, ‘I’m not as good here, I’ve not progressed here,’ but there’s some things that you’re already good at that you can continue to really shape your game around and just change it a little bit.

"I also think maybe I need to stop being so focused on the end goal so much. Like, 'I just want to fight for the title.' Maybe I just need to take it one at a time and just face whatever challenge is in front of me and stop, not that I’m looking past people or looking too far ahead, but everything I have wrapped into this fighting thing is about the title. Maybe when I stop being so concerned about the title, maybe I can fully focus on what’s in front of me."

Check out Anthony Smith's comments on his future below (starting at the 11:55 mark):

While Anthony Smith needed to self-reflect after finding himself in what he described as a dark place following his loss to Khalil Rountree Jr., he did note that he does not plan to retire. It is unclear what will come next for the former light heavyweight title challenger.

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Anthony Smith praises Khalil Rountree's speed following KO loss

After taking the bout on two weeks' notice, Anthony Smith suffered a third-round TKO loss to Khalil Rountree Jr. Speaking to Michael Bisping on the Believe You Me podcast, the No.10-ranked light heavyweight praised his 33-year-old opponent's speed, stating:

"He [Rountree Jr.] was just way faster than I had anticipated. I knew he was going to be fast, but it was shocking how fast he is, how he goes from 0 to 100 so fast. I struggled with the speed in the fight, and I didn't really have any other options. I wasn't seeing the left hand. He was faster than I was, and he was faster than I was prepared for."

Check out Anthony Smith's comments on Khalil Rountree Jr.'s speed below (starting at the 7:29 mark):

Anthony Smith, who took the fight on ten days' notice, added that his body wasn't reacting fast enough, which he also struggled with in camp. The 35-year-old noted that three days into his short camp, he had to change his initial game plan.