Dominick Reyes Explains What It Was Like Facing Anthony Smith Under Grim Circumstances
Dominick Reyes knows the name of the game is to hit your opponent until the fight is over. Anthony Smith welcomed the punishment perhaps more than he ever has in his pro MMA career. Speaking to reporters in a media scrum, Reyes said “Lionheart” was going to keep pushing forward until he couldn’t anymore (via MMAJunkie).
“Anthony is a true warrior, and he’s going to fight to the end. He wanted to fight to the end,” Reyes told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “He needed to feel something tonight, whatever he’s going through, but he kept moving. The ref said, ‘Come on Anthony,’ and he would move.”
Reyes went on to reveal that at one point in the fight, Smith asked him to hit him. “The Devastator” wasn’t going to pass on the chance given the job description.
“So, when I went in the cage – I haven’t been around Anthony much in my life, but when I was in the cage with him, he was emotional, right? That’s a dangerous man,” Reyes said. “Like he said it. He’s fighting for his friend, and he doesn’t care about the outcome. He just wants to feel something.
“There was a point in the first round when he put his hands down and was just like, ‘Punch me in the face.’ And I obliged. That’s my job. My job is to finish you and get you out of there whether you’re going through something or not. If you’re going to give me free shots or not, I’m going to hit you. We’re professional fighters. It’s a very dangerous game, you know. God bless Anthony.”
While this can be viewed as a sad ending for Smith, there’s no question that “Lionheart” wouldn’t want to end his career without fighting until the very end. That’s exactly what he did at UFC 310. Whether or not that was indeed his swan song remains to be seen.
