1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Anthony "Lionheart" Smith: July 28th, 11:25am

Episode Date: July 28, 2025

Anthony "Lionheart" SmithAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

You're listening to One-on-One with D.P. Brought to by Canopy Street Market. On 93-7 The Ticket and the Ticketfm.com. Welcome back. It is, in fact. Live Monday midday on the ticket one-on-one. It's a special day because... I'm old.

I'm old, anyway. I'm getting old. But I'm celebrating. I'm celebrating. the fact that not everybody gets to get older. So we have a special guest, a special guest on our VIP hotline. Let's bring in the one, the only Anthony Lionheart Smith. Brother, brother, what's happening?

How are you doing, man? How are we doing? What's up? Listen, the two late-night Rangers commiserating over spinal fusion surgery. I was like, man, this guy is a wig. What are you doing? And then I figured out it's your birthday.

Oh, it is. It is indeed. I appreciate you making time. I appreciate you holding your head up. Let the folks know what your last week has been like, man. Oh, man. This one's been a tough one. I'm sure a lot of people probably just, you know,

I've had quite a few surgeries and, you know, it comes with the job, it comes with the territory, and that's just part of it. But this last one, it's kind of been, it's been about 10 years in the making. I had an initial neck injury in 2016, and it's just been continually getting worse over time. And the doctors wanted to fix it about five years ago. And, you know, the caveat there was that they fixed my neck, it was probably going to retire me from competing in the UFC. anymore. And so we just did the things we could do to save that off as long as possible. And now that I'm retired, we went ahead and did it. And I'm going to be honest with you, D.P., if they had told me what it was going to be like, you know, going into a three-level

spinal fusion, I might have pushed it off even longer if I'm being honest. It's been a rough week, but I think we're coming through the other side now. You have this, I'm a member of this club where my pain threshold is off the chart. And so I would imagine that as a U.S.C. fighter is a mixed martial artist, that your pain threshold is a different level. So you're telling me that with all of that strength and pain management that you're capable of, that this is really as painful a thing as you've experienced. Yeah, it's different, man. All the other surgeries, whether it's a hand, an arm, a leg, an ankle, whatever it may be. it's just a limb typically.

So it's different when it's your spine because it affects every single one of your movements. And you know, you text me this morning and said, how are you doing? And I said, well, some things are better and some are worse. So, you know, the initial, you know, surgical part of the surgery in my neck is starting to feel better. But now everything else that's around it is sore because I've been stuck in a singular position or can only sleep certain ways, can only move certain ways or something that can't do. so like my ribs hurt and my lower back hurts, but I had surgery on my neck, and it's just moving and going all over the place.

But the initial pain that I felt when I woke up after surgery was something I've never felt before. Yeah, I, the spinal fusion with me was one, there were several things in it that, I mean, again, you know, I told the story that it was punctured when they were putting a catheter in, but my big fear was giving somebody access to my spine, right? You go through that, that your spinal cord

is your everything and giving somebody access, a human access to it. But then it was, well, you're not going to be able to bend or twist for six months. And we're going to put you in this brace that's going to really hold it. So you got to figure out how to do everything. Your wife has been a guy. Becky was a god set, right? That she slept in ICU.

When I was in ICU, she slept on this little chair. And you were telling me the story of what an angel your wife has been because it's absolutely necessary. Let's give her some flowers, bro. You know, it's, I don't know what I would, I don't know what I would do, you know, without her. It's, you know, and I don't know how much the listeners really care, but there's a lot of things that you guys, that everyone, myself, include, takes for granted that you just do it every single day and you don't really think about it. You just continue about your day. And a lot of those things are things I can't do.

Down to the, just getting up out of my chair by myself, down to pulling my own pants back up correctly after I use the bathroom. every single time. It's something I can't completely do 100% of the time right now. So it's the small things, the really humbling thing, that you kind of have to just let go and just lean into the person that you're closest to and allow yourself to just be vulnerable with them. But the first night, I wasn't able to sleep in the bed.

And just the way that our house was set up, for whatever reason, I just figured it out, I guess, after the surgery, the first house I've ever had that I didn't have a recliner. So I wasn't able to sleep at all the entire first night. She goes out first thing in the morning, heads into Nebraska furniture mark, gets me a recliner. And she's been posted up on the couch

next to my recliner every night since, timing my meds, making sure that if I move too much, that she's trying to get me comfortable, bringing everything I eat and drink to me. I mean, it's a humbling experience, that's for sure. Yeah, it's, you know, I went through, and I always had the utmost respect for Becky before that.

But when you're that vulnerable, and you like to think of yourself as capable, physically capable and you're a physical personality, and you lose that or you have to concede that, well, quite frankly, I'm not at my A game, but for a UFC fighter, I would imagine that there's some different conversations

that go on in trying to get through. You shared a picture of her sleeping on the couch, and then, you know, her with a big smile on her face. I think this is what it's about, that when you find a partner who's willing to go through this, you at your worst, at your lowest, that they raise you up and elevate you, it's got to be confirming, man.

It's got to be enabling to know that somebody really has your back. Yeah, you know, I was telling you about it. I'm not too embarrassed to share it with everyone else. I had probably the biggest ego check I've ever had in my entire life last night. My wife was going to pick up one of our daughters and, you know, the other little kids were here upstairs playing a video. game and I take a shot. I decide that I'm at a spot now

after a few days I can take a shower by myself. Turns out, it wasn't the case. So I take the shower. Everything's fine. I think if I just lean on this thing, I can start to dress myself. Well, that thing falls and I end up tumbling and falling down in my closet

with my underwear half on DEP. So now I'm stomping on, I'm like kind of hitting the walls and stomping because I need somebody to come help me. Well, nobody hears me, so my wife isn't quite back yet, and then my wife comes in, sees me on the floor. Well, I'm 240 pounds. She's not a, she's not a large lady. She's really tall, but she's not a large lady. So I had to just check my ego and say, I have to let them help me. So there I am with my underwear half on, a whole butt hanging out with my oldest daughter and my wife picking me up off the floor.

And I think for a second, I wanted to cry for a second and say, what happened to you? How did we end up here? But once I checked my ego and said, this is just part of where I am right now. This is not where I'm going to end up, but this is where I am right now. And these people love me, and I just need to let them help me off the floor and just not hurt myself any further. And I just had to come to this moment where I just have to be okay with it. And they love me and they're here for me. and I can't sit here and feel sorry for myself.

I just have to, we got to move on so that we can move on. It is really, when you, the word is humble. Like, it is humble because I couldn't do, I literally couldn't do anything without Becky's help.

And again, yeah, I'm a big dude. Becky's a tiny woman. And she's trying to manipulate, maneuver everything around and then not, and to not be disrespectful. Like,

okay. So in that, there's great appreciation, but I did want for folks to know how you're doing. And I wanted you to be able to tell the story because I know you're lingering, man. You're hanging out there and you have, I know how your brain works. You've got stuff on your mind.

So you need to engage people as you recover. I'm telling me if I watch any more court TV, I'm going to go crazy. I'm so ready to just get moving again. And, you know, I think you did a good job. I kind of chewing me out a little bit like that. You've got to sit down. you gotta chill out. And I just have to continue to just let myself heal

so that when we do hit the ground, we can do it running again. But I'm going insane over here, GP. I'm losing my mind. Well, here's the thing. I kept saying that you and I have been working on projects, plural, privately for a bit. And this is an opportunity.

Like, this week, I'm going to bug you all this week while you sit there because I know where you're at. You're not traveling to Abu Dhabi. You're not going to London. So from your couch, we're going to have you call each day this week in this time frame for the next two weeks just to keep it going. And Anthony, tell the folks kind of share what you and I have been talking about and what we're working out. You know, so for a long time, VP and I have just been trying to nail down whether it's segments or shows or just time that we can, I don't know, but we can continue. Oh, there we go.

The dogs are parking now. There we go. So just trying to nail down some time where we can just figure this thing out. There's too much love and there's too much opportunity and there's too much, I don't know, just too many opportunities for us to just continue to talk about sports to build up Nebraska, to build up M&A as a sport and continue to highlight the university and all the athletes there. And just as I was fighting and I had all these, you know, I'm all over the world and the ESPN stuff. We just, both of us didn't do a good enough job of, excuse me,

just nailing each other down and getting it done. But now with retirement already behind me and a little more time on my table and the opportunities, I'm home a lot more now. So we're going to continue to walk down that road and we're going to figure it out. And I think we're going to bring some quality content to all the listeners. Yeah, the MMA, the community, the Nebraska and residing areas, the areas around Nebraska, there's some talent in play and there's some conversations to have. your insight to UFC in the MMA world,

plus your Husker fandom and your sports knowledge in general, we do want to share it with you. Listen, let her take care of you, let them take care of you. Don't watch too much court TV. Change the channel and do that. But truly, again, I will take every opportunity to say this to you, that in that space that you were in at the highest level possible,

you were always constantly warm, welcoming, and inviting. I appreciate your friendship and your brotherhood because when I was in those spaces, you absolutely made me feel at home. You always made me feel like I belong, and it is appreciated, sir. You are appreciated. I appreciate you, man, and I can't wait to figure out

what we're going to talk about tomorrow. Yes, sir. Anthony Lionheart Smith, hey man, go rest up, heal up. Let's give you a painless Monday for the rest of the day. Everybody send your prayers to Anthony Lodhart Smith. There we go. We'll go to break. We'll come back more one-on-one here on the ticket.