A new year always brings with it a lot of change, and that seems to be the case with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The premiere fighting promotion will debut on ESPN and ESPN+ in 2019, and it seems it will do so without one of its announcers.
According to a tweet by Jimmy Smith, the UFC has decided not to re-sign him.
Now that the New Year has arrived I’m afraid I have to announce that the UFC has declined to re-sign me and my time with the promotion has come to an end. I just want to thank everyone at the promotion who made me feel welcome and appreciate at every single show.
— Jimmy Smith (@jimmysmithmma) January 1, 2019
Smith worked for Bellator MMA from 2011-2017, before making his way to the UFC. He worked at several UFC events as a color commentator and as a studio analyst in 2018. He also has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a 5-1 MMA record.
Upon Smith’s signing by the UFC last year, color commentator Joe Rogan stated on his podcast, “You (expletive) up, Bellator. I’ve been telling everybody Jimmy Smith’s the best out there, and you let him go. That’s a huge error on their part. I would be thrilled if somehow or another they were able to work it out where Jimmy Smith was at the UFC.”
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