Smith 38, was eventually released on bond for $500,000 and will now have to appear in court later this year to determine how this all goes. “Lionheart” faces up to 20 years in prison depending on potential convictions.
White, who had issues with his own wife at a nightclub back in 2023, is currently in Serbia to promote this weekend’s UFC Belgrade event, but that didn’t stop the UFC CEO from being asked about the allegations against Smith and his subsequent arrest.
“Well he’s one of those guys, too, that you don’t expect to see that happen,” White told The Mac Life. “But—personal experience—it can happen to anybody.
“So I don’t know enough about it, I don’t know enough of the details. I’ve been on the road this whole time. But I just hope it works out for him and his family and his kids.”
Smith isn’t the first former UFC fighter to run into trouble outside of the cage. Last month, former UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier was arrested at an airport for public intoxication (details HERE). The incident was on a much smaller scale, but it still raises the question as to whether or not UFC gives current and former fighters the help they need.
“We do so much stuff for the fighters,” White said. “Not just the ones that are under contract with us, but ones that used to be, too.”