Former Oklahoma State Wrestler Jacobe Smith Earns UFC Contract

The Oklahoma State to UFC pipeline will continue with Jacobe Smith.

Smith earned a UFC contract in the welterweight division after winning his fight on Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday night. The ref stopped the fight at the 2:55 mark in the second round, giving Smith the win by TKO over Christien Savoie to stay unbeaten. Smith did everything he needed to do to impress Dane White, first scoring creative takedowns then landing elbow after elbow after elbow.

“I’ve just been fighting for this my whole life, ever since I graduated from Oklahoma State,” Smith said during the ESPN+ broadcast. “… It just seemed like a long journey, and we’re finally at the end of it. Now it’s time to really put on a show and do the work. I’ve been fighting my whole life for this, and now I’m ready to change my family’s lives.”

Total domination by Jacobe Smith 😤#DWCS is LIVE NOW on ESPN+ 📺 pic.twitter.com/KsHBRrKM0G

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 2, 2024

DWCS is not technically affiliated with the UFC promotion but is its own promotion developed by the UFC president to showcase up-and-coming talent and give them a chance to compete for a UFC contract. Each invitee gets one fight for an opportunity to impress White and possibly earn a contract. A win does not guarantee a contract, though.

“You’re an absolute freak of nature,” White said of Smith. “I honestly can’t remember the last time that I saw a talent like this that wasn’t in the UFC already. And (Daniel) Cormier’s been all over me. And Cormier literally said to me all these years that he’s been in the game, he looks at you as like a Khabib (Nurmagomedov) type talent. So, what can’t you do, kid? I’m excited to find out. Welcome to the UFC.”

Smith began his MMA career in 2021, training at AKA alongside other former Cowboys Daniel Cormier and Kyle Crutchmer. He’s 9-0 after the win Tuesday night. He has six first-round knockouts plus the second-round TKO.

At OSU, Smith was an All-American in 2018 after placing eighth at 174 pounds and was a two-time Big 12 champion. He was 49-13 as a Cowboy. Smith transferred to Stillwater from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, where he was a two-time NJCAA national champion. He was also a state champion at Muskogee High School.

Smith only continues a strong Cowboy presence throughout UFC history. OSU has produced more UFC champions than any school in the country with three in Cormier, Randy Couture and Johny Hendricks.

Nick Piccininni, who wrestled at OSU with Smith, also fought on DWCS earlier this season. He took the fight on 10 days notice and won via split decision, but after White didn’t agree with the result, he asked both fighters to come back again later in the season for a rematch. That rematch is scheduled for Oct. 15.