Elijah Smith says he wants to remind himself who he is

Elijah Smith says he wants to remind himself who he is. He told UFC.com on November 6.

Smith meets Davey Grant at bantamweight on the main card on Saturday, November 7, at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, and bantamweight is 135 pounds (61 kg). Waldo Cortes Acosta meets Johnny Walker in the main event, which the card story books, and Tatiana Suarez meets Virna Jandiroba in the strawweight co-main.

Smith is 24 and 10-1, he is 3-0 in the UFC, and he submitted SuYoung You with a rear-naked choke at 1:04 of the second round on March 14, 2026. Two hundred thirty-eight days sit between that bout and Saturday. Earlier this year he wanted to stay active, then a hand injury needed surgery, his daughter was born early, and about four months in the NICU kept him from training. On that downtime he recorded as Shakur Da Bag, released the EP Out of Reach, shot music videos, met producers, and picked Novacane, the last song on the EP, as the walkout.

Colorado is his birthplace, he trains at Factory X, and the UFC lists his style as freestyle. Smith is 69 inches (175 cm) and 135 pounds (61 kg), with a 71-inch (180 cm) reach and a 40-inch (102 cm) leg reach. He turned pro in 2022, he started training in 2020 during Covid after a plan to play football at a junior college, and two of his amateur fights lasted a combined 22 seconds. The UFC lists a 5-0 amateur record with two belts, a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, five knockouts, two submissions, and three decisions, four first-round finishes, and an eight-fight winning streak. The other submission is a face crank. Smith is the second youngest of four siblings, he wrestled from age five and was a two-time state qualifier, he has a five-year-old, and he worked at a car dealership before he fought. Swift, the nickname, comes from how fast he moves and how quickly he finishes. Gilbert Smith, his father, went 13-6 as a UFC veteran and a two-time cast member of The Ultimate Fighter, and the UFC lists Elijah among four second-generation athletes who followed their fathers into the Octagon.

A slam knocked Toshiomi Kazama out at 4:10 of the first round on August 9, 2025, and that finish closed the rookie year. The Octagon debut was a unanimous decision over Vince Morales at 5:00 of the third round on February 15, 2025. Dana White’s Contender Series, on September 17, 2024, was a three-round unanimous decision over Aaron Tau.

Grant is 40 and 18-8. Bishop Auckland, England, is his birthplace, and he trains at SBG Manchester. Grant is 68 inches (173 cm) and 135 pounds (61 kg), with a 69-inch (175 cm) reach and a 40-inch (102 cm) leg reach, and he won a unanimous decision over Adrián Luna Martinetti at 5:00 of the third round on April 25, 2026. One hundred ninety-six days sit between that bout and Saturday. Grant was on Team Rousey on The Ultimate Fighter 18, he has been a pro since 2008, and Chris Holdsworth submitted him with a rear-naked choke at 2:10 of the second round at the TUF 18 finale on November 30, 2013. Nine wins came by submission, four by knockout, and five by decision, and the UFC lists eight wins in his last 12 and five in his last seven. He held a British bantamweight title for three organizations at the same time, he holds black belts in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and kickboxing, he started training in 2001, and he worked as a scaffolder. Smith said Grant came off The Ultimate Fighter young and had to prove himself before the rankings.

The hand is healed, Smith said, and he called the Grant bout arena-caliber after he had hoped for New York City the following week. Saturday closes his second year on the roster. Jacobe Smith and Randy Brown were the step up he pointed to from last week. Beating Grant, he said, will mean more to him than to anyone else, because he wants to prove he is better than he was in March and that the rest of the division is living in his world.

Start time

Pacific time is eight hours behind UTC, and Sydney is on daylight time, eleven hours ahead of UTC.

Prelims and the main card in Las Vegas:

• Las Vegas: 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
• London: 10 p.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. Sunday
• Sydney: 9 a.m. and noon Sunday

In New York that is 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern. The later clock is the main card, and Smith’s bout is on it. The card streams on Paramount+.