As Anthony Smith prepares for his retirement fight at UFC Kansas City, the one-time light heavyweight title challenger has already set himself for a career afterwards thanks to working as an analyst for the UFC — not to mention producing his own weekly podcast.
But a few years ago, Smith honestly had no idea what would happen to him when MMA was finished. He obviously knew he couldn’t fight forever but that fear of the unknown haunted him plenty.
“It used to keep me up at night,” Smith told MMA Fighting. “Because I had no idea what I was going to do when I was done. It wasn’t even about how I was going to earn a living. It was how am I going to be fulfilled? How am I going to make a difference? I ended up in this position because I’ve always been different. I knew when I was a kid, I was never meant for a normal 9 to 5 — any time I say this it makes it sound like I’m being disrespectful — I’m not against anybody who gets up, clocks in, works their day and clocks out. I’m not against that. I did the same thing as a carpentry finisher and other construction trades for a long time while I was training and fighting full time. I was finishing concrete and fighting in the UFC at one point in time.
“I respect that but it was never meant for me. I knew this was just in the interim until I get to what I actually want to do. While that was going on, I realized what the hell am I going to do when this is over? That thought got me here, what happens when here is gone? Then what do I do? It used to bother me a lot. It kept me up at night.”
It wasn’t until a few years ago when Smith started getting invited to make appearances on a Sirius XM show hosted by Dan Hardy that he found a voice talking about the sport that finally gave him a new option. The 36-year-old veteran had never even contemplated a career in broadcasting but those guest spots on Hardy’s show got him recognized as an analyst and it didn’t take long for the UFC to notice.
That’s when he was offered an opportunity to work on television for a UFC pre and post-fight show when the promotion was still in a partnership with FOX. Smith admits he was nervous going into that debut appearance but thankfully he found a steadying hand from a future UFC Hall of Famer to guide him.
“Michael Bisping saved my ass in that gig,” Smith revealed. “He gave me a crash course in desk work and broadcasting when we were at FOX. He really made me feel comfortable and helped me out a lot on that first show and covered me. He carried me in a lot of situations. He really saved me.”
Smith eventually partnered with Bisping on his Believe You Me podcast where they co-hosted shows together, but that ended just recently, which led to speculation that the fighters had some sort of falling out.
In reality, Smith says he always intended on forging his own path, which meant starting a new podcast and moving on from his co-host role alongside Bisping. Despite the thirst for some controversial blowup between the fighters, Smith promises he has nothing but the deepest gratitude and admiration for Bisping and he definitely believes the feeling is mutual.
“We’re good,” Smith said about his relationship with Bisping. “He would have told everybody — if Bisping hated me, you guys would know it. When has he ever minced words? There’s things that happened that neither of us has talked about in the background. Nothing to do with conflict or anything like that. Bisping and I are good.
“That was the plan in conversations that Bisping and I had from the beginning [that I would go onto create my own show]. There was no shock I was going to start my own show. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone behind the scenes. He’s incredible. He’s an incredible dude. He helped me a lot.”
As far as the future goes, Smith is still one of the top analysts working for the UFC but with the end of his fighting career approaching, he’s excited to take on some new challenges.
Calling fights for the UFC is probably at the top of that list because Smith has always wanted to serve as a color commentator for the promotion but he also understands those jobs are few and far between.
Add to that, Smith confesses that as much as he wants one of those coveted positions, he would never want his success to come at the expense of somebody else losing a job. It’s for that reason Smith doesn’t publicly campaign for that role, but it’s a position the UFC definitely knows he wants.
“I would jump at an opportunity to call fights and just take on that role,” Smith said. “I think that’s where my skill set is probably better utilized. I think I’m better in that role. But you have to remember, if I’m calling for that opportunity, that means I’m calling for a lost opportunity for one of my friends. So I’ll sit patiently and wait and see if that opportunity pops up. The UFC knows that I’m willing and that’s something I would really enjoy doing. I love [Michael] Chiesa and I love Alan Jouban and I get so uncomfortable when they call publicly and talk about wanting to call fights. Because that means they want to take the job of one of their peers, and I know that they don’t mean it like that. They just want to call fights. I do, too. It would be incredible. It would be a lot of fun.
“But calling for it publicly, kind of campaigning for it, I don’t want [Daniel Cormier] looking at me sideways. I don’t want [Paul] Felder being uncomfortable with me or around me and I don’t want Bisping being uncomfortable around me because they feel that I’m scheming and weaving and try to get into their position.”
The good news is the UFC is about to embark on a new broadcast rights deal starting in 2026 that almost assuredly means more content and new opportunities. The UFC already produces more than 40 events per year but that number could increase depending on what kind of deal gets struck.
It’s one of the biggest reasons why Smith is more than willing to stay patient and bide his time because eventually he’s confident that the UFC is going to call him up to do color commentary without his role eliminating somebody else’s.
“Opportunities pop up,” Smith said. “In the last 10 years, there’s been a bunch of different guys, you had Brian Stann, Dan Hardy, there’s been people that has been in and out. I think as this sport continues to grow, I think there’s going to be more roles and more opportunities are going to pop up. I think we’re going to continue to keep moving in a direction where there’s more fights, not less. So at some point in time, they’re going to need another guy anyways. As these new rights deals come up with the ESPN negotiations, that stuff, I suspect that there’s going to be more fights and more opportunities and they’re going to need more.
“At some point in time, Bisping and Felder and Laura [Sanko] and D.C. and Dominick Cruz, they’re going to need a break. They’re going to need someone to take on something for them, and if they need me, I’ll be there.”
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