Former UFC commentator Jimmy Smith announces return to Bellator: “I’m excited!”

Longtime MMA commentator Jimmy Smith returns to Bellator.

The Donn Davis era of Bellator has been a mixed bag for most combat sports fans around the world. The PFL purchased the company late last year and many long-time faces like Scott Coker have left the brand. However, the roster of fighters like Douglas Lima, Patricio Pitbull and others has largely remained.

However, Bellator recently signed a major non-fighter. As first reported by MMA fightslongtime co-commentator Jimmy Smith has returned to the brand. The commentator, himself a former boxer, left the then Viacom-owned brand in 2018 to join the UFC. However, he was released after just one year.

Since then, Jimmy Smith has spent time with WWE, Invicta FC, and more. However, seven years after leaving Bellator, the commentator is returning to the company. Speaking to MMA Fighting about the news, Smith revealed that despite leaving the MMA company years ago, he was already on friendly terms with most of the staff.

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Co-commentator Jimmy Smith returns to Bellator years after leaving the company

“I got a call,” Jimmy Smith said when asked if he would rejoin Bellator. “'Hey, do you want to do some shows for us?' I said, 'Sure, yeah, great, no problem.' People have this notion that I revived things. It's not like I haven't seen Scott Coker since then. It's not like I haven't been in touch with people from Bellator since then. I've called the directors and producers, we're friends. So every now and then I check in, 'How's it going?' It's not like there was some gigantic, horrific incident where we burned bridges and had to get over it.” (h/t MMA Fighting)

He continued: “It was nothing like that at all. It was just, 'Hey, do you want to do some shows for us?' I said, 'Yeah, sure, I'd love to do that' … I'm thrilled that there are enough people, Patricky Pitbull, Patricio [Pitbull] and all these people that I knew a while ago, and now there's this new generation that I haven't necessarily had the opportunity to commentate on their fights, but I've watched them, and my God, they're incredible. It's truly an incredible generation.”

Jimmy Smith's first card back with the company will be Bellator Champions Series 3, taking place later this month in Dublin. That card will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between Jason Jackson and Ramazan Kuramagomedov.

What do you think of this Bellator news? Are you excited to see Jimmy Smith rejoin the company?