Anthony Smith’s last walk to the octagon is expected to take place in April.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Smith is targeted to face Zhang Mingyang at UFC Kansas City on April 26. Kangzif on Twitter was first to report the matchup.
Smith will look to wrap up his career following his 59th professional fight, and 25th octagon appearance. The one-time title challenger enters the bout with back-to-back losses to Roman Dolidze and Dominick Reyes to cap off 2024, but started the year with a submission win against Vitor Petrino at UFC 301 this past May.
Zhang brings an impressive 11-fight win streak into his biggest profile matchup with the opportunity to enter the UFC’s light heavyweight rankings. “Mountain Tiger” earned a contract after a sensational knockout on Road to UFC in 2022, and made his octagon debut at UFC 298 a year ago, knocking out Bendson Ribiero in the first round. The 26-year-old followed that up with another opening-round knockout win over Ozzy Diaz at November’s UFC Macau event.
Damon Martin contributed to this report.
