Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, Smith grew up in Nebraska City. He was raised by his single mother and grandfather, as his dad was absent. He has stated that he is biracial. Smith dropped out of high school in the middle of his senior year. He started working full-time as a concrete finisher, which he continued until 2016.
Smith made his Strikeforce debut on July 22, 2011, at Strikeforce Challengers: Bowling vs. Voelker III against Ben Lagman, replacing an injured Louis Taylor. He won via KO in the second round. Smith faced Adlan Amagov on November 18, 2011, at Strikeforce Challengers: Britt vs. Sayers. He lost via KO in the first round. Smith faced Lumumba Sayers on August 18, 2012, at. He won via submission in the first round. Smith faced Roger Gracie on January 12, 2013, at. He lost via submission in the second round. After the end of Strikeforce, Smith moved to UFC.
In his debut, Smith faced Antônio Braga Neto on June 8, 2013, at. He lost the fight via kneebar submission in the first round. He was subsequently released from the UFC.
On April 18, 2014, Smith made his Bellator MMA debut facing Victor Moreno at Bellator 117 winning via triangle choke submission in the second round. Smith faced Brian Green on October 17, 2014, at Bellator 129. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Return to Ultimate Fighting Championship
On February 16, 2016 Smith was re-signed to the UFC. He faced promotional newcomer Leonardo Augusto Leleco on February 21, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 83, replacing an injured Trevor Smith. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Smith was briefly scheduled to face Scott Askham on July 8, 2016, at. However, Askham pulled out of the bout on April 28 and was replaced by Cezar Ferreira. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Smith next faced Elvis Mutapcic on December 3, 2016, at. He won the fight via TKO in the second round and was awarded a Performance of the Night bonus. Smith faced Andrew Sanchez on April 15, 2017, at UFC on Fox 24. He won the fight via knockout due to a combination of knee and punches in the third round. Smith faced Hector Lombard on September 16, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 116. He won the fight via technical knockout in the third round. Smith faced Thiago Santos on February 3, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 125. He lost the fight via technical knockout. Both participants received a Fight of the Night bonus.
Smith is married. He has three daughters, born in 2011, 2014 and 2017.
Home invasion incident
At 4am on April 5 2020, an intruder gained entry to Smith's home in Nebraska through an opened garage door. Smith found him “screaming at the top of his lungs” in his computer room, and proceeded to fight the man for 5 minutes until the police arrived. Smith states that the intruder "took everything that I gave him – every punch, every knee, every elbow. He took every single one of them and kept fighting me", describing the ordeal "as one of the toughest fights" of his life. The man was later identified to be 21 year old Luke Haberman, an accomplished former high school wrestler.
