UFC News & FeaturesJacobe Smith Surprised by Submission Triumph at UFC 317
Jacobe
Smith has the look of a prospect to watch in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s welterweight division.
The former All-American wrestler from Oklahoma State University earned his second promotional triumph at UFC 317, as he forced a tapout from Niko Price with a rear-naked choke at the 4:03 mark of Round 2 on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
It wasn’t exactly the way Smith anticipated earning his 11th
professional victory.
“I sunk the rear-naked and it went deeper that it goes usually. In practice I can’t even submit my teammates with it,” Smith said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “It slipped in because of that sweat … Now I know I can submit people. I can be a submission artist, a knockout artist, a wrestler. Whatever you want me to do, let’s go play the game.”
“It went back to young ‘Cobe.’ I’m like, ‘Throw them ‘bows and get him out of there.’ And then I kind of gassed myself,” Smith said. “What better time to do it than now. It’s only a growing process from here. I think it helped me.”
Smith knows that he’s still in the learning phase of his UFC tenure, and he took some valuable lessons from his meeting with Price.
“Keep moving my feet and stop forcing it, don’t go crazy because you know you can touch him. Be fast and not powerful,” Smith said. “That jab was getting to him so fast, but the first round the right hand hit him and I got crazy. I wanted to touch him one more time with it and I just couldn’t find it because I was telegraphing it. That jab was just coming so straight. I’ve just got to tighten everything up, and it will be done.”
With impressive performances in his first two UFC appearances, Smith could be setting himself up for a quick ascent in the welterweight division. It doesn’t sound as though the moment will be too big for him.
“It’s not like I had a dream to where I could see it and this is how it happened, but my inner self told me I was here before,” he said. “It feels like I’ve been here before. I’m loving it.”
The former All-American wrestler from Oklahoma State University earned his second promotional triumph at UFC 317, as he forced a tapout from Niko Price with a rear-naked choke at the 4:03 mark of Round 2 on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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“I sunk the rear-naked and it went deeper that it goes usually. In practice I can’t even submit my teammates with it,” Smith said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “It slipped in because of that sweat … Now I know I can submit people. I can be a submission artist, a knockout artist, a wrestler. Whatever you want me to do, let’s go play the game.”
Smith started quickly against Price, a veteran of 18 Octagon
appearances. However, when the finish didn’t arrive, he had to take
a step back to compose himself.
“It went back to young ‘Cobe.’ I’m like, ‘Throw them ‘bows and get him out of there.’ And then I kind of gassed myself,” Smith said. “What better time to do it than now. It’s only a growing process from here. I think it helped me.”
Smith knows that he’s still in the learning phase of his UFC tenure, and he took some valuable lessons from his meeting with Price.
Jacobe Smith: 'I've Just Got to Tighten Everything Up'
“Keep moving my feet and stop forcing it, don’t go crazy because you know you can touch him. Be fast and not powerful,” Smith said. “That jab was getting to him so fast, but the first round the right hand hit him and I got crazy. I wanted to touch him one more time with it and I just couldn’t find it because I was telegraphing it. That jab was just coming so straight. I’ve just got to tighten everything up, and it will be done.”
With impressive performances in his first two UFC appearances, Smith could be setting himself up for a quick ascent in the welterweight division. It doesn’t sound as though the moment will be too big for him.
“It’s not like I had a dream to where I could see it and this is how it happened, but my inner self told me I was here before,” he said. “It feels like I’ve been here before. I’m loving it.”
"I just have to tighten everything up, and it will be done."
— UFC News (@UFCNews) June 29, 2025
After a dominant performance at #UFC317, Jacobe Smith finds a lesson learned to bring along his journey.
Prelim Results: https://t.co/qW9hRbMwlu
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