Elijah Smith

Swift

USA

Official debut set
BantamweightUFC
December 16, 2024
Smith will take on Vince Morales in a bantamweight matchup at UFC Vegas 102 on Feb. 15, Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl reports.
ANALYSIS
Smith enters the UFC on a five fight winning streak after officially getting a contract via Contender Series in September. He'll take on a fringe roster fighter in Morales, a 34-year-old on a three-fight losing streak that will be fighting with his back against the wall.
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Earns contract in main event
BantamweightUFC
September 18, 2024
Smith defeated Arron Tau via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) at Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series 72. After the show, he was one of five fighters to be awarded an official UFC contract.
ANALYSIS
Smith came out hot, winning the significant striking battle in each of the first two rounds -- dominantly in Round 1 and narrowly in Round 2. He also executed multiple takedowns in each of those two frames, but it barely amounted to over a minute of control time in each. Smith was visibly fatigued by the third round, and his desperate opponent came away with a 56-to-31 significant striking advantage in the frame. Smith dug deep to hang around, but he'll need to budget his cardio for a full 15 minutes by the time he's facing UFC opponents. Nonetheless, Smith is now an addition to the UFC's bantamweight division, and as the son of UFC veteran Gilbert Smith, he becomes the second second-generation fighter in company history.