On Friday night, former UFC commentator Jimmy Smith was backstage at WWE SmackDown tapings after auditioning for a commentator job. Smith, who signed with Bellator MMA as a color commentator in 2010, left the company in 2017.

In college, Smith was introduced to Brazilian jiu-jitsu and trained at Team Punishment. Smith turned pro in MMA after graduating from UCLA, winning his first fight in 30 seconds with an armbar. He had a total of six MMA fights and only lost one. He decided to quit fighting after being offered a job as a television host.

RELATED: The Story Behind Big E Throwing His Jacket At Corey Graves

In 2007, Smith co-hosted Fight Quest, with Doug Anderson, on the Discovery Channel. He was also a host for American Ninja Warrior from 2010 to 2011. On March 13, 2015, Smith co-hosted Premier Boxing Champions with former boxing champion Antonio Tarver.

In January 2018, he was signed by UFC as a color commentator, though his contract was not renewed the following year. He recently turned down an offer from Singapore-based ONE Championship in 2019 to sign with Invicta FC.

After leaving UFC, Smith explained his firing, saying, “Very simply it was, you’re great, fantastic, we love everything you did. We’re going with UFC fighters for 2019, so, that’s it. I don’t think I’m leaving out any syllables. It was literally that was the conversation, it was, we love everything you did, fewer shows, we’re going with UFC fighters for those shows. That was it.”

Last year, Smith began hosting Unlocking the Cage, a new radio show that aira each weekday on SiriusXM Fight Nation channel 156. Marissa Rives, Program Director, SiriusXM Fight Nation, announced at the time, "I’m so excited to announce that we’re launching a daily MMA show with the great @jimmysmithmma “Unlocking the Cage”. My goal is to always provide a platform for talent that I feel needs to be heard & man, that’s Jimmy. Cannot wait to start this journey on Monday!"

We now have to wait to see if WWE gives Smith a chance, though given his background, he’d be a welcome addition to the promotion.

Source: 411Mania

NEXT: Darby Allin Disses Taz Before Tonight’s Street Fight Against His Team