By The Numbers: Maurice Smith

More than two decades after his final appearance inside the Octagon, Maurice Smith remains a historic figure in mixed martial arts despite his sub-.500 record.

The first African American to win an Ultimate Fighting Championship title, Smith completed his trailblazing career with a 12-14 mark. He was a multiple-time world champion kickboxer who befriended ground specialist Frank Shamrock—together, they formed The Alliance—and unknowingly provided one of the blueprints to the cross-training methods that now permeate modern MMA. Smith competed for the last time at the age of 51 when he dropped a unanimous decision to Matt Kovacs at a Cage Warrior Combat event on Nov. 2, 2013. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in in 2017.

As Smith’s exploits drift further and further into the rearview mirror, a look at some of the numbers that accompanied him along his journey:

60: Years of age for Smith, who was born on Dec. 13, 1961 in Seattle.

9: Smith victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission, accounting for 75% of his career total (12). His list of victims includes Marco Ruas (twice), David “Tank” Abbott and Marcus “Conan” Silveira.

113: Seconds needed for Smith to submit Rick Roufus with a straight armbar at Strikeforce “Strikeforce at the Dome” on Feb. 23, 2008. It was the fastest finish of his 26-fight career.

10: Calendar years in which Smith fought at least once. He went 1-2 in 1994, 0-2 in 1995, 1-2 in 1996, 3-2 in 1997, 3-3 in 1999, 1-1 in 2000, 1-0 in 2007, 1-1 in 2008, 1-0 in 2012 and 0-1 in 2013.

7: Fights in which Smith went the distance as a professional, including two 21-minute affairs in the UFC. He carried a 3-4 record in those appearances.

147: Days spent by Smith as undisputed UFC heavyweight champion. He laid claim to the title with a unanimous decision over Mark Coleman at UFC 14 on July 27, 1997 and relinquished it in a majority decision defeat to Randy Couture at UFC 15.5 on Dec. 21, 1997. All three men have been enshrined in the pioneer wing of the UFC Hall of Fame.

11: Organizations in which Smith plied his mixed martial arts trade. He went 4-3 in the UFC, 1-4 in Pancrase, 1-4 in Rings, 2-0 in Extreme Fighting, 1-0 in Pride Fighting Championships, 1-0 in the International Fight League, 1-0 in Strikeforce, 1-0 in the Resurrection Fighting Alliance, 0-1 in World Extreme Fighting, 0-1 in Sengoku and 0-1 in Cage Warrior Combat.

8: Smith losses by submission, accounting for 57% of his career total (14). The opposition’s methods of choice: two arm-triangle chokes, two armbars, one straight armbar, one kneebar, one rear-naked choke and one neck crank.

79: Significant strikes by which Smith outlanded the opposition in his four UFC wins. He connected on 114 such strikes against Coleman, Abbott, Silveira and Bobby Hoffman while absorbing only 35 of them in return.

.619: Cumulative winning percentage between the 13 men—Kovacs, Silveira, Couture, Bas Rutten (twice), Hidehiko Yoshida, Renato Sobral, Renzo Gracie, Kevin Randleman, Akira Maeda, Kiyoshi Tamura, Ken Shamrock and Minoru Suzuki—who defeated Smith. They boast a combined record of 270-156-10.