Post-Fight

Anthony Smith is ecstatic in his post-fight interview with Paul Felder. Clearly he's pumped about getting a win after what has been an otherwise disastrous 2020. 

Smith is very analytical about his performance, saying he knew if he could get the clinch he could take Clark down. He compliments Clark's strength for fighting off the Twister early in the round. He wraps it all up by saying he's not going to force a title fight now, he's just going to take fights as the UFC offers them and start building himself back up again.

Highlight
Official Decision

Anthony Smith submits Devin Clark with a triangle choke at 2:34 of Round 1.

Tweets
The finish....
Round 1

Martinez comes out quickly, charging across the cage and throwing a head kick. It misses but Clark shoots a takedown. Smith turns his back and avoids and then changes things up by taking Clark down and he's immediately in side control. 

Clark looking to be defensive from this position and so far Smith is just controlling and looking for his opportunity to advance. Smith rolls Calrk and goes for a back take but doesn't quite get it. Instead, Smith is now almost in a Twister position but he's a little low and the two men are in a bit of a stalemate. Eventually, Clark manages to spin and now he's on top of Smith.

That's bad news for Clark though because Smith sinks in a triangle choke! The choke is locked in and Clark is now forced to play defense. Clark is struggling to free any space up though and Smith gets the full turn on the body and Clark is forced to tap! Sensational performance from Lionheart.

Ring Announcement

Smith is 4 inches taller than Devin Clark but, to paraphrase Mike Goldberg, everything else is VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL!

Joe Martinez does his thing and it's Herb Dean who will have the cage for this main event. The two fighters touch gloves and we're off!

Walkouts

Devin Clark walks out to "Die Tonight" by Adam Calhoun and the commentary team lauds Clark's efforts thus far in the octagon and point out how big of a moment this is for Clark and the doors a win her would open.

Anthony Smith foregoes his classic "Return of the Mack" by Mark Morrison, to instead walk out to "Ready to Die" by Biggie Smalls. Gotta say, I don't love the change. Not that there's anything wrong with Biggie, of course, but "Return of the Mack" is an elite walkout song. 

Preamble

Well, we're finally here. The main event no one knew we were waiting for until yesterday but a good fight nonetheless. Anthony Smith has fallen on hard times in the division recently but with Jon Jones vacating the belt, even one good win can get him right back in the mix. And for Devin Clark, this is his chance to really announce himself as a bona fide contender in the division. Should be a fun one.