Jimmy Smith officially confirmed as the newest member of WWE RAW announce team

After much speculation, WWE has finally confirmed that Jimmy Smith will be joining RAW as a play-by-play commentator.

The former MMA fighter will be making his debut on the 31st May edition of Monday Night RAW, according to an official statement made by WWE.

Jimmy Smith began his professional career as an MMA fighter in 2003 and competed in a total of six fights (record 6-5) before being offered a job to host Discovery Channel's show Fight Quest.

He would then go on to host the second season of NBC's American Ninja Warrior and continued to be a part of the show until the end of the third season.

Smith has worked with WWE before as he served as an analyst for NXT and hosted several pre-show panels for the black and gold brand.

Jimmy Smith takes over from Adnan Virk on WWE RAW

Jimmy Smith takes over the spot left vacant by former RAW announcer Adnan Virk.

Virk held the position for seven weeks before WWE announced that both parties had mutually agreed to part ways.

His commentary work on the show received a mixed response from the WWE Universe. According to Virk, he decided to leave the program due to the stress traveling put on him and his family.

Fans won't have to wait long to hear Smith's commentary work as he will start his duties on the upcoming episode of RAW. The former MMA fighter will work alongside Byron Saxton and Corey Graves on the red brand.

Since FOX acquired the rights to WWE SmackDown, the red brand's announce team has gone through several changes.

Both Samoa Joe and Jerry Lawler worked as commentators for several weeks. Vic Joseph and Tom Phillips were also put into the lead announcer spot at one point or another.

Jimmy Smith has the credentials and the talent to do the job, but it will be interesting to see how the WWE Universe will react to his commentary.

Do you think Jimmy Smith will be a success on RAW? Let us know in the comments section.