LAS VEGAS – Anthony Smith is fighting for a different and very personal reason as he steps into the octagon with Dominick Reyes at UFC 310.

In a clash of former light heavyweight title challengers, Smith (37-20 MMA, 13-10 UFC) will face Reyes (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena (ESPN+ paid) -per-view , ESPN2, Hulu, ESPN+) in an important fight in the overall landscape of both participants’ careers.

All of this is controversial for Smith, however, because just three weeks ago he experienced a personal tragedy. His long-time friend and trainer Scott Morton died suddenly and “Lionheart” suffers from the consequences.

“I have to destroy something,” Smith told MMA Junkie and other reporters at UFC 310 media day on Wednesday. “That’s why I’m here. It could be myself. Maybe I’ll hit a damn buzz saw and not go the same way I got here, and I’m okay with that too. I went to the Alexander Gustafsson fight right after the Jon Jones fight, and I didn’t go there to win either. I wanted to punch someone in the face because I felt so shitty for losing the title fight.

“Saturday I want to fucking break something and this is my outlet. I can’t do what I really want to do anywhere else without consequences. That’s why I’m here. I don’t give a shit if I win. At all. Not even a little. I haven’t even thought about it. I want to fucking break something, and here I can do that.”

Smith has endured many difficult moments in his personal and competitive life. Despite another opponent getting in his way, he continued to push forward and show up in UFC 310 fight week.

However, he indicated that he did not do this to honor Morton’s memory. In his opinion, that’s not enough to do justice to the relationship they had.

“Not at all (fought in his memory),” Smith said. “The smallest thing Scott was to me was a coach. He was like my mentor and my big brother and I never lived as an adult without Scott guiding me through life. So at the end of the day, this fighting shit is really wrong. This is one hell of a dog and pony show. I don’t give a shit about any of that. But to get a win and then have the opportunity to tell the world about it and stand alongside Joe Rogan means a lot. That will be cool for me. But in terms of everything else, it doesn’t matter.”

For more information on the card, check out MMA Junkie’s UFC 310 event hub.