Full Name | Anthony Smith |
Date of Birth | July 26, 1988 |
Nationality | USA |
Height | 6'4" |
Anthony Smith, sometimes called the Lionheart, is an American MMA fighter currently signed to the
UFC Light Heavyweight division. A black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he has had quite an impressive
career with 17 knockout victories in MMA since 2008.
Early Life and Career
Anthony Smith was born in Corpus Christi, Texas and brought up in Nebraska City. He had started his
career in MMA at 20 years of age and fought mostly for local promotions in Midwestern USA. He
was also a full-time concrete finisher all this while, which he only quit in 2016 when he was re-signed
to UFC. As a professional, he had some great wins against WEC veterans like Logan Clark and Eric
Schambari.
After debuting on Strikeforce, he won two against Ben Lagman and Lumumba Sayers and lost two
against Adlam Amagov and Roger Gracie.
Career at UFC
On his first time with UFC, Anthony Smith only got one match before he was released, against
Antonio Braga Neto, which he lost via submission. Before coming back to UFC in 2016, he competed
on Bellator MMA as well. He fought two matches there, against Victor Moreno on debut and Brian
Green, both of which he won.
His return match to UFC was against newcomer Leonardo Augusto which he won by unanimous
decision. In the last couple of years, he had fought against the likes of Scott Aksham, Andrew
Sanchez, Hector Lombard and Mauricio Rua.
Current Status
With a win-loss record of 31-13 at present, Anthony Smith is scheduled to face Jon Jones for the
Light Heavyweight title on March 2, 2019 at UFC 235.