Jimmy Smith returns as Bellator MMA commentator
Jimmy Smith will return to Bellator MMA as a commentator for the first time since 2017 according to a report from MMA Fighting.
Just weeks after announcing his departure from Bellator MMA that year, Smith found a home with the UFC where he served as color commentator.
Once a former professional mixed martial artist himself, Smith is recognizable voice for MMA fans, even earning as accolades as he transitioned to commentary for professional wrestling.
Now with Bellator under ownership of PFL MMA, Smith will handle European shows beginning June 22 in Dublin, Ireland.
“I got a phone call,” Smith told MMA Fighting of how the reunion came together. “‘Hey, do you want to come do some shows for us?’ I went, ‘Sure, yeah, great, no problem.’ People have this idea that I rekindled things, it’s not like I haven’t seen Scott Coker since then. It’s not like I haven’t been in touch with Bellator people since then. I called the directors and producers, we’re friends. So every now and then I’ll catch up, ‘How’s it going?’ It’s not like there was some titanic, horrible burned bridges incident that we had to overcome. It was nothing like that at all. It was simply, ‘Hey, would you like to come do some shows for us?’ I said, ‘Yeah, sure, I’d love to.’
“It was a surprise a little bit, but not that much. It wasn’t like once again that we had some kind of blow up or anything like that. It had just been a long time since I worked for them.”
When asked about if he could eventually work PFL shows, Smith dismissed it at this time.
“Right now it’s Bellator,” Smith said. “They said, ‘Go overseas, do some Bellator shows over in Europe for us,’ which is great. That sounds absolutely fantastic. PFL has a big squad of commentators. I’m not saying I couldn’t fit in or do stuff for PFL. It would be no problem at all. They have their guys, it’s kind of a packed house there.
“I think they’re trying to figure out how the Bellator brand’s going to be separate. If it’s going to be separate, how it works, and I know those fighters backwards and forwards. A lot of them were there when I was there years ago. Right now it’s exclusively Bellator and it’s some shows overseas before the end of the year. That’s the deal.”
