Anthony Smith is at the stage of his career where he wants each fight to have meaning.

After making his MMA debut in October 2007 and competing nearly 60 times since, Smith (38-20 MMA, 13-10 UFC) has experienced almost everything a fighter can, including challenging for the UFC light heavyweight title against then-champ Jon Jones in March 2019.

At 36 and with four losses in his past six fights, though, signs point to things winding down for “Lionheart.” He’s not ready to declare a retirement plan, be it a number of fights or length of time. That’s because he still has fight left in him, and Smith can feel the fire burning strong when he gets specific fights.

That’s the case for his UFC 310 matchup with Dominick Reyes (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC), which takes place Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+, ESPN2). It’s a fight Smith has been thinking about for some time and what he feels he wants and needs at this point in his career.

“I’ve always liked the Dominick Reyes fight,” Smith told MMA Junkie. “For no other reason than he’s one of the best guys in the world and one of those guys that I think a lot of people thought beat Jon Jones. He’s a name. It’s interesting to me, which is kind of where I’m at in my career right now. I just want to have some fun. I want to train really hard, I want to enjoy whatever I have left in my career, and I want fights with guys that I think matter. And Dominick Reyes matters to me.

“That’s a win. You look back at – as fun as the (Vitor) Petrino fight was, I won’t look back at that one. If I’m sitting around a camp fire with a cold beer in my hand, I’m not going to sit around and tell my friend and reminisce about the time I beat Petrino. That’s not the one that’s going to stand out. Alexander Gustafsson matters. ‘Shogun’ (Rua) mattered. Rashad Evans mattered. And Dominick Reyes matters. So that one is going to mean a lot to me.”

Smith and Reyes have both had their ups and downs in recent years. Smith is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Roman Dolidze in a short-notice fight at UFC 303 in June, while Reyes brings the momentum of a first-round TKO over Dustin Jacoby in June, which snapped his four-fight losing skid.

“The more I dig into it the more dangerous I find Dominick Reyes is, which is really fun for me,” Smith said. “I’m really excited. I don’t really give a sh*t about wins and losses and all that stuff right now. I just want to be the best version of myself that I can be and have as much fun preparing for this as I possibly can.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

PFL co-founder Donn Davis continues to lay down the gauntlet to Dana White and the UFC.

Davis spoke to the media ahead of Saturday’s PFL: Battle of the Giants pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia, headlined by Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira. The outspoken Davis went on to explain why White is afraid of booking a PFL vs. UFC cross-promotional event.

“Yes, the UFC’s brand name is bigger, we recognize that, we’re the new guy,” Davis said. “We have to work harder. We’re in year five, they’re in year 30. But if push came to shove, and it was five fights — we pick five, they pick five — let me tell you, they wouldn’t do that. Because we’d win half, and they’d win half. … That’s why Dana, hashtag Dana scared, would never do that. He knows that and we know that.

“But be fans of all of us. We love all fighting, we root for all fighters. Watch them both.”

Davis has not been afraid to speak his mind when it comes to White, the UFC, and the strength of the PFL roster. In fact, Davis believes that the winner of Ngannou’s return to the MMA cage for the first time since making the choice to vacate the UFC heavyweight title and sign with PFL — no matter who wins — is the best in the world at the weight class.

Another gauntlet was laid down by Davis for current UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones to face Ngannou, or the winner of this fight.

“This is the fight everyone wants to see,” Davis explained. “Whoever comes out of this fight is the No. 1 [heavyweight] in the world. So whoever wants to claim the No. 1 spot goes through the winner of this fight — not through the UFC, this fight. So whoever wants to claim that position better be calling us after Saturday, not calling them.

“We’ve said at PFL, we want to give fans what they want. … Francis Ngannou has said he’ll take on all comers. I think Jon Jones wants to cement his legacy. There’s only one obstacle to that fight, and we know who that is.”

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LAS VEGAS – Dana White thinks Dustin Poirier still has a lot of fight left in him.

Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC), who’s coming off a title loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 in June, says he has one or two more fights left in him. He’d love for his final fight to be in his home state of Louisiana amid rumors of the UFC’s potential return there in 2025.

White reminded everyone that it was just two fights ago when Poirier knocked out surging contender Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 299 in March.

“Look at what he did. I mean, everybody was talking about his execution against Saint Denis, all that sh*t that was talked, and look at what he did,” White said after Dana White’s Contender Series 76 on Tuesday. “You can never count Poirier out. That’s up to him. He’s going to decide whether he wants to fight or doesn’t want to fight. It’s always up to them – it’s not up to me.

“But to say, ‘Oh, he should probably walk away right now?’ I don’t know about that. I didn’t think that Cormier should have walked away when he did, but Cormier did. He felt it was time to go, and he did it. He’s moved on, and he’s doing great. Look at the second career he has now – it’s unbelievable. All these other guys, they need to start thinking about that.”

Poirier never realized his goal of undisputed UFC gold, but was able to capture the interim lightweight title in 2019. He holds notable wins over Max Holloway twice, Conor McGregor twice, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, and Michael Chandler.

Former champion Gegard Mousasi filed a lawsuit in New Jersey against Bellator, and the promotion’s new owners at PFL, over numerous complaints including breach of contract.

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday with several PFL executives named in the lawsuit including company co-founder Donn Davis, PFL CEO Peter Murray and matchmaker Mike Kogan.

The claims from Mousasi against Bellator include “breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, a claim for relief for Monopsonization.”

In the 81-page filing, Mousasi’s attorneys detail the contract that the veteran middleweight signed with Bellator in 2017 and then agreed to an extension in 2020 that was later amended in 2023.

Under the terms of the deal, Mousasi would be paid a “guaranteed purse of $150,000 for his first four bouts, and then after his first four bouts were completed, Gegard would receive guaranteed purse for each subsequent bout of $200,000.”

Mousasi would also receive a “finish bonus of $50,000 for any bouts won by knockout or submission, plus a promotional fee for each such bout of $600,000. Accordingly, after his fourth bout was completed, Gegard was guaranteed to earn $800,000 per bout, and up to $850,000.”

The lawsuit details Mousasi’s complaints over his lack of activity after completing the first four fights under his contract and then accepting a fight against Fabian Edwards “despite carrying an injury that effectively forced him to fight Edwards with one arm” because he was worried that the promotion was going to sideline him indefinitely.

Mousasi claims that his situation only got worse after Bellator sold to PFL in November 2023 and a lack of communication with promotion officials continued to keep him out of action. The former UFC fighter expressed his frustration when speaking to MMA Fighting back in April.

“The problem is we cannot get ahold of them,” Mousasi said at the time. “They refuse to answer us back. I’ve been training, I’ve been ready. But like I said, they don’t promote me, or people think I’m retired actually. People don’t even know. After my fight, Fabian Edwards fought twice, and since then, they don’t even talk to us. I know I have a contract with them. I know they are obligated to give me those fights. I’m just waiting and I don’t know. Just waiting, what can I do?

“I talked to Mike Kogan, he suggested, ‘Well, you make too much money.’ He said, ‘I would get back to you after I talk to them because they cannot let you hang like this.’ I haven’t heard from him either.”

The lawsuit lays out months of back and forth between Mousasi’s manager and PFL executives as attempts were made to resolve the situation, although the now 39-year-old fighter remained out of action.

Then in May, PFL and Bellator announced that Mousasi had been released from his contract after threatening legal action.

Now Mousasi has followed through with the lawsuit alleging breach of contract and claims that Bellator/PFL “engaged in anti-competitive monopsony conduct” while claiming he was misclassified as an independent contractor rather than an employee.

Mousasi is seeking “compensatory, consequential and/or equitable monetary damages in an amount to be determined at trial, but not less than $15 million” as well as punitive damages and attorney fees.