Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith will appear as part of an upcoming MMA event despite his current domestic violence case.
Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred FC announced this week that Smith will appear at the brand’s October 2 card, facing ex-PFL heavyweight Jordan Heiderman in a bare-knuckle MMA bout.
Smith, who notably battled Jon Jones for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in 2019, was arrested in July on felony charges of domestic violence causing bodily injury, terroristic threats and first-degree false imprisonment.
Prosecutors alleged that Smith threatened to kill his wife and tried to strike her with his vehicle during a dispute on July 26. Smith entered a not guilty plea in August and is expected to return to court on September 21.
Smith’s wife has since posted a public statement in which she said the arrest was to “protect him from himself” amid a moment of a mental health crisis.
“They made a mental health struggle into something it wasn’t,” she wrote. “I am safe and always was safe. He would never hurt me.”
Gamebred FC explained their reasoning behind booking Smith while he has an open domestic violence case, explaining that they don’t want to stop him from providing for his family and noting that his case has not been resolved yet.
Anthony is facing serious allegations, and like every person in this country, he is entitled to due process and the presumption of innocence while his case moves through the courts. He has pleaded not guilty, and that process deserves to play out fully and fairly, on its own timelines, without a promotion, a headline, or public opinion getting ahead of the facts.
Anthony also has a family to provide for, and competing is how he does that. Taking away his ability to earn a living before he had his day in court is not something Gamebred FC is willing to do to dim or to the people who defend on him.
Jorge [Mascidal] and I have known Anthony and his family for years. What we have seen, up close and over time, is a loving, devoted husband and father – Nothing else. That doesn’t mean we are closing our eyes to what has been reported. It means we also know there is more to this story than has made it into the headlines, and we believe Anthony deserves the cahnce to tell it fully, in the appropriate setting, not through speculation.
Our support for Anthony going forward is not a statement on the specifics of the case – those will be decided by the court, as they should be. It is a statement about fairness, about due process, and about standing by someone until we are give real reason not to.
We will have no furhter comment on the legal proceedings and ask that Anthony and his family’s privacy be respected as this continues.
38-year-old Smith briefly retired from MMA in 2025 following his final UFC appearance. He returned to the sport in April, winning as part of a Gamebred FC event.
