UFC 272: Devonte Smith don’t like going to the judges at all

Devonte Smith is a student of the game both with his opponent’s stylistic proclivities and his own. This is reflected in how studious he was about his last fight against Jamie Mullarkey.

“I watched that video like twenty thousand times already,” Smith told The AllStar. “Overall I believe I did great. I had a couple of things here and there. But I don’t feel like those things were that detrimental to the fight.

“Also, I learned that things happen in the fight game. Getting caught with a knuckle to the eye. Fracturing my orbital. That was my first time dealing with that. I remember when it happened. The right side of my eye felt like it just shut off.

“I was just thinking about Brian Ortega. Because I’m trying to open my eye and I’m like is my shit cut? Is it like Brian Ortega? Is it swole? Then with one eye I look and see the referee. He’s like nah, you’re good. Keep going. That was a great experience [air quotes] to learn as a fighter. You got to dissect your old fights to improve on it. I’ve been watching it. My good, my bad, and what I need to work on.”

That injury to the eye caused a level of turmoil in the moments subsequent to the bout ending. Smith being in the hospital for the first time as opposed to sending fighters there himself offered up a sobering new perspective. It was a reflective period that ultimately seemed to prove beneficial and galvanized his efforts going forward even more.

Smith returns to action on March 5th at UFC 272 in Las Vegas against Erick Gonzalez inside T-Mobile Arena. He realizes his opponent has a high octane style that is centric on jumping into the proverbial fire, an approach he is acutely aware of.

“He seems like a scrapper,” Smith said. “Willing to fight. If the fight goes the full distance, it looks like he has the cardio and the will. I’m pretty excited to get in there since my last fight. Just to make up my cheques. Last time you know I ain’t win so I only have one cheque. So I’ve got to make up for that. Overall, I think it’s going to be a great fight and seems like a great matchup.”

When asked about this fight prediction, Smith gave localized insights into why he personally does not enjoy when fights encroach to that final bell and the judges’ verdict is needed.

“Don’t like going to judges,” Smith adamantly said. “I went to the judges one time in my career. It was in my amateur days. Fought a guy named Nick Foxhuber and we’re cool. But I won the fight, basically. You can go watch it. I won the fight but did an accidental groin kick in the third round. It was my first one. As soon as I did it, I turned around and put my hands up, my bad. They just took a point from me.

“From there, they called it a draw and even he was like, nah, he won. Within the cage, he held my hand up pointing at me and shaking his head. We went to the back and I apologized for the groin kick. He was like Nah bro. I was just taking my time. I was tired. You were beating my body up. I was like ok, cool. Thanks for letting me know. You did a great job selling that.”

“We used to play Fortnite a lot back in the day. Every time we were online he would tell anybody and everybody. Me and this guy right here fought, He beat my ass but you know. So he’s a cool guy. Since then I was like, nah, no more judges.”

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Fighter profile

Devonte “King Kage” Smith is a 28 year old male fighter from United States with 11 pro wins and 3 losses. Smith is scheduled to fight Erick Gonzalez at UFC 272: Covington vs. Masvidal on Saturday March 5, 2022.

Devonte Smith’s recent form coming into this matchup

Devonte Smith has gone 3-2 in the last 5 professional MMA fights.

• Loss vs Jamie Mullarkey • KO/TKO R2 2:51 • 2021-10-02
• Win vs Justin Jaynes • KO/TKO R2 3:38 • 2021-02-06
• Loss vs Khama Worthy • KO/TKO R1 4:15 • 2019-08-17
• Win vs Dong Hyun Ma • KO/TKO R1 3:53 • 2019-02-09
• Win vs Julian Erosa • KO/TKO R1 0:46 • 2018-11-10

Devonte Smith’s next opponent: Erick “The Ghost Pepper” Gonzalez

Erick “The Ghost Pepper” Gonzalez’s recent form coming into this matchup

Erick “The Ghost Pepper” Gonzalez is a 30 year old male fighter from United States with 14 pro wins and 6 losses. Gonzalez is scheduled to fight Devonte Smith at UFC 272: Covington vs. Masvidal on Saturday March 5, 2022.

Erick Gonzalez has gone 3-2 in the last 5 professional MMA fights.

• Loss vs Jim Miller • KO/TKO R2 0:14 • 2021-10-16
• Win vs Samuel Alvarez • Decision R3 5:00 • 2021-08-07
• Win vs Oziel Rodriguez • KO/TKO R3 0:37 • 2021-03-19
• Loss vs Humberto Bandenay • Decision R3 5:00 • 2019-12-20
• Win vs Milko Tucto • Decision R3 5:00 • 2019-12-20

How to watch and bet on Devonte Smith vs Erick Gonzalez

Keep track of all the latest odds and line-movements at our bout page for this matchup.