Why a childhood punch convinced Jacobe Smith he belonged in the UFC: 'It changed me'

Smith, an undefeated UFC welterweight prospect, recounts how his violent childhood and his mother's near-deadly altercation helped him get to this point

Oct 29, 2026 at 1:10 pm ET • 6 min read

A fighter's upbringing often helps explain why they pursue such hazardous work, but Jacobe Smith's early family life is particularly convincing. His childhood and family stories read like scenes from an action movie.

The welterweight prospect co-headlines UFC Fight Night on Saturday against veteran Randy Brown. It's a short-notice appearance, but fighting more experienced foes on a whim is nothing new to Smith. He's been beating up older kids since before he was in middle school.

Smith, a sixth-grader at the time, was outside his childhood home when an older neighbor argued with his mother. The neighbor, a high school senior, said something that Smith couldn't forgive. What happened next was probably the last thing the teenager expected.

"My mom was telling him to get out of our yard or something," Smith told CBS Sports. "He told her, 'Shut up, [bitch].' I don't even remember. I took off running, and there was a stump on the ground. I jumped off of it and hit him. He fell in the yard and balled up, rolling back and forth. He was a guy who beat up my cousin, who is older than me and used to bully me, and got me tough. I don't know what made me do it, but when I hit him, it changed me. I thought, 'I'm going to fight in the UFC when I'm older."

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Smith remembers the punch fondly, comparing it to the brutal left hook that knocked out Preston Parsons 73 seconds into Smith's UFC debut.

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It's no surprise that Smith developed his mean streak at a young age, given how he talks about his parents, though he also inherited plenty of athletic ability. According to Smith, his father was drafted by the Oakland Raiders and participated in tough-man fighting competitions, reportedly earning as much as $20,000 in a single night. His mother played volleyball in the Junior Olympics.

His mother was apparently not someone to mess with. Smith told a story about an especially wild incident involving his parents outside of a nightclub, where a confrontation between his father and another man nearly turned deadly.

"I probably get all this 'with-it-ness' from my mother," he said. "They were at a club. My dad was getting into it with somebody. He probably wasn't even going to fight him. They're running their mouth, face-to-face, and my mom wasn't having it. She reached over him and stabbed the dude in the chest. It could have been on the side of his heart and killed him. Then a big fight broke out."

Smith knows his mother's actions could have ended in tragedy. He also sees himself in her willingness to escalate a confrontation, though there's a line between the anger he feels and losing control.

"It's so crazy because I get angry, and I feel that rage, but I can't see myself losing it like that," Smith said. "When I'm in the cage, I'll do whatever it takes. If I have to get to that level, obviously, I don't have a knife, but I'm very well equipped to get you out of there, whether it's wrestling, choking you out, or knocking you out. So you guys in the welterweight division better be ready."

Smith pairs natural aggression with a serious wrestling pedigree, having earned NCAA Division I All-American honors at Oklahoma State before transitioning to mixed martial arts. He's since developed the striking and submission skills to make himself dangerous anywhere. His undefeated record shows his temperament and the work he's put into becoming a complete fighter.

But Smith doesn't reserve all that hostility for the Octagon. You can see shades of his parents' bold personalities in how he talks about welterweight veteran Kevin Holland. He's become a particularly sore subject for Smith.

The two were scheduled to fight, and Smith believes Holland accepted the matchup without any real intention of following through. Their relationship has deteriorated into a personal feud, mostly conducted privately through direct messages.

"It rubs me wrong," Smith said. "When we're face-to-face, it's, 'What's up, buddy.' But as soon as a fan gets to trolling and I rock and roll with it, he has the audacity to get in my DMs and talk shit. So if we see him, we're gonna see him. I'll show him that I'm the one doing the talking."

Smith insists he isn't manufacturing the animosity to start a bigger fight. He says neither fighter made their exchanges public at first. Following his most recent knockout, Smith contacted Holland directly.

"After my last knockout, I DMed him and said, 'I want you next, boy.' It went from there. He was talking mess..." Smith said. "If I see him, I'm bound to smack him in the face, outside of the cage. I don't like the dude. I'm not shying away from that. If we can't get in the cage, I'm gonna be the one doing the talking. I guarantee that."

Smith doesn't ignore disrespect, whether it's in his mother's yard, in the UFC or in the training room. He and a small group of teammates recently left Fortis MMA in Dallas following behind-the-scenes disagreements with the gym's leadership. It was significant given Fortis' reputation as a respected training facility, but Smith wasn't interested in staying once the relationship soured.

"I had a good training partner in Geoff Neal, plus a couple others," Smith said. "Things didn't work out with the coach, or whatever. Shit was said, and shit happened that prompted us to start our own gym. I have my own gym, and whenever I need DC, I fly out there and do part of my fight camps with him."

His path to Fortis started in California. Smith initially trained under Daniel Cormier at the American Kickboxing Academy, hoping to learn from one of MMA's most accomplished wrestlers. The financial cost eventually became too much, so he returned home.

"I started my career off with Daniel Cormier in California, and it was a struggle," Smith said. "I was broke then. I couldn't afford to eat some days. It was expensive out there. I moved back home to be closer to family, and Fortis was the closest thing."

Cormier remains an important figure in Smith's career. A two-division UFC champion, Olympic wrestler and NCAA Division I finalist, Cormier accomplished much of what Smith aspired to as a young wrestler. Smith idolized him long before they worked together, making the opportunity to train under him worth the initial hardship.

Cormier is a wealth of knowledge on and off the mats. Asked about the most valuable advice Cormier gave him, Smith recalled a warning about fame's fleeting nature.

"Live in the moment and never take anything for granted," Smith said. "Most times, you get tired with all of these interviews, fans, signatures, pictures and stuff. You want to get home peacefully. He said, 'One day, people will stop running up to you, wanting autographs.' So live in the moment and don't take it for granted."

Smith's rapid rise has him on the verge of the UFC welterweight rankings, and he's been more vocal about wanting a Top 15 opponent. Matchups with Holland and Brown, both former ranked fighters, suggest the promotion is moving him in that direction.

Smith graduates to the co-main event of UFC Fight Night this weekend against Brown. It's the biggest opportunity of his career, but it may not be for long. Smith hasn't received an outright guarantee that a victory will secure him a ranked opponent, but his conversations with Cormier and UFC matchmakers have him optimistic. He's even entertaining the possibility of skipping much of the rankings altogether.

"It's trending that way," Smith said when asked if he was given assurances that a ranked opponent was next. "Not only fans, but also talking with the matchmakers and DC. I could see, with everything that I'm piecing together, from my perspective, it'll be someone in the Top 15, or we could even see a Top 5, potentially, with the talks that I've been having."