Smith and his team are in the early stages of grief following the loss of coach Scott Morton last month. Smith and Morton were inseparable throughout his UFC career, including when Smith fought Jon Jones for the belt.

For the first time in Smith’s career, Morton will not be by his side when he walks to the Octagon in front of thousands of fans on Saturday night. Ahead of UFC 310, Smith was brutally honest about what these final days before another fight mean to him.

Anthony Smith: “Something must be destroyed” after tragic loss

During a recent interview with ESPN“Brett Okamoto” opened up to Smith about his state of mind as he dealt with the loss of his friend and prepared for a big spotlight.

“To be honest, I don’t want to be here,” Smith said. “I would have rather flown in on Thursday night, weighed in on Friday morning and just fought and left. Sometimes this whole fight week is a big circus, it’s not real. The basis of it all is the actual fighting, all those other dog and pony shows, that’s what makes it something it’s not. As for me personally, I just don’t give a shit about the circus show. The lights, cameras, comments, people who don’t really know what the hell they’re talking about and try to act like they do…

“Something has to be destroyed, whether it’s him or me. Something has to break. I think I messed up with the mindset that if things don’t go the way I want, then something must break. It’s like I have to throw a tantrum, a bit like a child… it has to go somewhere or I’ll go crazy… (Scott) created a foundation that I’ve stood on my whole career. I started training with Scotty when I was 17 or 18 and our connection was immediately close. I’ve never lived without him as an adult, I don’t know what the future holds and how I’ll stay here without him.”

At this time, Morton’s cause of death has not been released. Smith further explained that one of Morton’s final wishes was for him to retire from fighting soon, and that UFC 310 could be his final Octagon appearance.

Anthony Smith wants to avoid defeat in the possible UFC finale

As he mourns the loss of his longtime friend and trainer, Smith wants to get back on track after a string of recent defeats in his fighting career. After initially coming close to taking the title against Alex Pereira, Smith has slipped out of the title mix at 205 pounds.

Over the past few years, Smith has made no compromises when it comes to his love-hate relationship with mixed martial arts and fighting. He has hinted at retirement numerous times throughout his ups and downs in the UFC, including after his recent loss to Roman Dolidze at UFC 303.

Smith is looking to get back on the win list after losing four of his last six fights. His most recent victory came against Vitor Petrino via first-round submission at UFC 301.

Regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s fight, Smith has his fallen friend on his mind ahead of UFC 310. In what could be his last UFC hurrah, Smith will look to pay tribute to Morton and deliver another standout performance.

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