Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.
“Lionheart” was 5-6 through his first 11 professional appearances, and while he found his footing as he traversed his 20s, he never looked like anything more than a reliable action fighter who would emerge from the regional circuit whenever he was called upon. Perceptions began to change when Smith joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster for a second time in 2016, and the decision to pack on muscle and put down roots in the light heavyweight division resulted in a drastic shift in his career trajectory. Now one of the sport’s premier competitors at 205 pounds, he will take on Glover Teixeira in the UFC Fight Night 171 main event on Wednesday at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
Though the 31-year-old Smith’s tale has yet to be told in full, here are five of the moments that have come to define him:
1. Controlled Fury
With 32 professional bouts already in his rearview mirror, Smith struck gold for the first time when he subdued Tim Williams with an inverted triangle choke to win the Cage Fury Fighting Championships middleweight title in the CFFC 46 headliner on Feb. 28, 2015 in Chester, Pennsylvania. Williams, who had never before been submitted, conceded defeat 1:15 into Round 2. Whether he realized it or not, Smith was in the middle of a career renaissance—a stretch that would result in 15 victories across 18 outings. The Corpus Christi, Texas, native retained his CFFC title in a rematch with Williams and went on to claim the Victory Fighting Championship middleweight belt with a first-round technical knockout of Josh Neer before returning to the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2016.
2. Moving Day
Thiago Santos dispatched Smith with a liver kick and follow-up punches in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 125 middleweight showcase on Feb. 3, 2018 in Belem, Brazil. “Lionheart” bowed out 63 seconds into Round 2, his run of three consecutive victories at an end. Both men wandered into danger in the first round, where Smith was met with a pair of head kicks before somehow falling into full mount. Santos spun into top position, battered the former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder with ground-and-pound and returned to an upright position. The two middleweights connected with dueling right hands in the final minute: Santos decked Smith but sustained a significant gash on his left eyebrow. Unfazed by the laceration, Santos fired a sweeping kick across the American’s gut early in the middle stanza. Smith doubled over in visible distress and retreated, his Brazilian adversary in close pursuit. Santos then unleashed a ferocious barrage of punches while Marc Montoya protégé clung to his leg and forced the stoppage. Soon after, Smith made the shrewd decision to move to 205 pounds.
3. Shogun Blast
The well-traveled Smith continued his transition from onetime journeyman to unlikely Ultimate Fighting Championship contender, as he obliterated former light heavyweight titleholder Mauricio Rua in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 134 headliner on July 22, 2018 at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany. An unconscious Rua hit the deck 1:29 into Round 1, the future hall-of-famer having met a most unfortunate fate. A fill-in for Volkan Oezdemir, Smith clipped the Brazilian with a front kick to the face, lured him forward and slammed a right cross into his temple. Rua stumbled backward and attempted to cover up, but it was no use. Smith swarmed with punches and delivered a devastating standing elbow to the side of the head that had the 2005 Pride Fighting Championships middleweight grand prix winner out on his feet while propped up against the cage. Two more punches connected before Rua slumped to the canvas.
4. No Bones About It
Jon Jones spent the better part of 25 minutes educating Smith on the vast gulf that exists between good and great, as “Bones” retained the undisputed light heavyweight crown with a convincing but somewhat pedestrian unanimous decision in the UFC 235 main event on March 2, 2019 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All three judges scored it 48-44, owing to a two-point deduction with which Jones was hit for an illegal knee strike in the fourth round. Outside of the aforementioned foul, Jones was on cruise control. He broke down Smith with spinning back kicks to the body and front kicks to the face, tortured him in the clinch and mixed in a few takedowns for good measure, consolidating them with ground-and-pound and positional control. Jones outlanded the challenger by an eye-popping 238-45 margin in the total strikes department. Of the 125 significant strikes with which he was credited, more than half (80) went to the legs and body.
5. A Taste of His Own Medicine
Smith’s unlikely Cinderella run continued as the clock struck midnight on one of the few men who have given the aforementioned Jones a legitimate run for his money. The Factory X standout submitted three-time light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson with a rear-naked choke in the fourth round of their UFC Fight Night 153 headliner on June 1, 2019 at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm. Gustafsson raised the white flag 2:38 into Round 4, then promptly shed his gloves and announced his retirement from mixed martial arts. The fight appeared to be there for the taking before the finish. Gustafsson outstruck “Lionheart” across the first 15 minutes—he did so by a 38-15 margin in Round 3, where he also executed his only takedown—but saw his situation unravel in the fourth. There, Smith bullied his way to a takedown, advanced to the back and flattened out the Swede. A series of damaging elbows and punches followed, setting the stage for the choke.