That’s a lot of wisdom to fit in just 28 years on this planet. Most fighters his age would have been looking for the next fight and the next knockout, determined to make up for lost time. Smith, on the other hand, has learned about the important things in life and he’s intent on taking full advantage of them. He wasn’t born like that, but he’s glad he got that knowledge before it was too late.
“I used to mess up by following my emotions,” Smith said. “Not saying that’s a bad thing, but for certain situations, it is. I was that fighter, to a certain extent, that wanted to, in some ways, get back in there. But I’ve seen how that can either benefit or not benefit them. And a lot of times, when you go back in there, let’s say off of a loss, you need to work on what you need to work on. When you just go off emotion – I’m mad I lost, I could have won that fight, it was just jitters, this and that or that or this – you go in there and you didn’t really get that much better. Now you’re just training to fight; you’re not training to get better. Off of a win, it’s a little different, but you gotta really put in the numbers, and you’re working out two, three months straight, sometimes even longer, to go super hard for 15 to 25 minutes. So even when you win, your body needs to heal; it needs to sit down.
“I broke my hand two, three times, ruptured my Achilles, got my nose broke, messed up my ankle – just so many battle scars,” he continues. “I’ve been doing this for ten-plus years, and even at 28, I just feel like I’m at a place where it’s like, ahhhhh, I’m cool. I’m going to become champion, and I’m going to just move at my pace. If I feel like it makes sense that I can do two, three, four, five times in a year, then I’ll do it. But if it don’t make sense to me, if I’m not feeling good, I’m cool. I’d rather take care of my life and make sure my body’s good so I can go in there and perform so I can get the win. And as long as I win, that’s all that matters.”
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Devonte Smith isn’t just here to fight. He’s here to make his mark, not just for himself, but for that happy nephew and smart niece who will never get on a rollercoaster again. And he’s going to do it his way. Does that mean he’s not invested because he’s not thinking about this 24/7? Absolutely not. In fact, this last little break may have made him more invested than ever.
“It helped me re-find that love for MMA,” Smith said. “Now I have a balance.”
