Former UFC fighter Anthony Smith banned from contacting wife and leaving the state following Domestic violence charge 

Anthony Smith has found himself in serious legal trouble. The former UFC light heavyweight, who is thirty-eight years old, was arrested in Sarpy County, Nebraska, on Monday, July 27, as per a report shared by TMZ Sports. As a condition of his bond, which was set at $500,000, Smith has been barred from contacting his wife, Mikhala Renee Newman, and is not permitted to leave the state.

Smith is no longer listed as an inmate at the Sarpy County Correctional Center. He has been charged with three felonies, attempted first degree domestic violence, terroristic threats, and first degree false imprisonment. The attempted first degree domestic violence charge alone carries a prison sentence of anywhere between one and fifty years. The terroristic threats charge adds a potential zero to three years in prison, a fine up to $10,000, and nine to eighteen months of post-release supervision.

Smith waived his preliminary hearing, sending his case directly to district court for trial, as per local WOWT. The Sarpy County Attorney's Office has since released a statement, revealing that Smith was involved in an altercation with the alleged victim at a bar in Gretna on July 26.

Anthony Smith described fighting an intruder in his home as one of the toughest fights of his career:

Anthony Smith's home life made headlines back in 2020, though for very different reasons. As per a report shared by ABC News, a man named Luke Haberman was arrested and charged with first-degree criminal trespass after breaking into Smith's Omaha-area home in April of that year.

Anthony Smith opened up about the incident in an interview with ESPN's Ariel Helwani, sharing that his wife woke him just after 4 a.m. to tell him there was a man in the house. He could hear a man's voice screaming and left the bedroom to investigate, turning a corner to find Haberman in a computer room. Smith said Haberman walked toward him, and concerned the man had a weapon, he tried to take him down. The two then began fighting.

"I didn't know what he had," Smith said.

"Typically people don't break into your house in the middle of the night for any good reasons. I'm expecting that I'm gonna hear a gunshot or he's gonna stab me. Like he's got something. I figure I've got about two minutes before whatever he's got takes me out."

Anthony Smith said his goal throughout was to protect his family, as his wife gathered the children and took them to a bedroom. What struck him most, though, was how long the fight actually lasted. Haberman, who weighed around one hundred and seventy pounds, kept coming at an UFC fighter for several minutes straight.

"No normal human is able to fight like that," Smith said.

"I'm by no means the baddest dude on the planet. But he's a regular Joe and I had a hard time dealing with him. And he took everything that I gave him -- every punch, every knee, every elbow. He took every single one of them and kept fighting me," he added.

Anthony Smith said he tried to subdue Haberman for more than five minutes while waiting for police to arrive. Haberman did not steal anything from the home, and it remained unclear why he was there. Smith described the experience as "terrifying" and called it one of the toughest fights he had ever had. His wife, mother-in-law, and three daughters were not injured.

Anthony Smith traded his UFC gloves for a broadcasting career after retiring from the sport:

Anthony Smith retired from the UFC in 2025 following a loss to Mingyang Zhang, as per a report shared by Us Weekly. That being said, retirement didn't keep him away from combat sports for long. Earlier this year, Smith briefly came out of retirement to face Chase Sherman in a bareknuckle fight, winning by first round stoppage.

Smith opened up about the experience with MMA Junkie, sharing that the bareknuckle bout was something he did entirely on his own terms.

"There was no pressure because I don't have to do this, I get to do this," Smith shared.

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"I know it sounds very cliche and very silly. I'm not out here saying I'm the best bare knuckle fighter in the world, I'm not saying I'm the best heavyweight in the world. I don't give a s*** about any of that. I just wanted to have fun, and I wanted to do [it at] a place that would allow me to do that without the pressure and the foot on your neck," he added.

Outside of the ring, Anthony Smith transitioned into a new chapter, he worked for ESPN as an analyst for UFC broadcasts.

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