There are dumb criminals, and then there are ones dumb enough to break into the home of a UFC fighter. That was the case Monday, in a scary incident for Anthony Smith.
All joking aside, Smith, a UFC light heavyweight title challenger, faced what could very well have been a fight for his life Monday, when he faced off with an intruder at his Nebraska home. The light heavyweight was woken up around 4AM Monday, according to a report by EPSN. That’s when, as Smith told the outlet, he heard a man screaming — and engaged in what he described as a “terrifying” and “one of the toughest” fights he’d ever had.
“I didn’t know what he had,” Smith told ESPN, referring to a potential wepaon. “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.”
Smith, who lives with his wife, children, and mother-in-law, was focused on protecting the family. The smaller man — later identified as Luke Haberman — put up quite a fight, said Smith, despite being roughly 170lbs. Smith, a trained pro, competes at 205lbs.
“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.”
Smith’s mother-in-law passed him a knife, which he reportedly used to keep Haberman at bay — but the intruder continued to struggle. Haberman was left cut and bleeding all over the room, with swelling to the face. Police were able to subdue him once they arrived on the scene. The suspect was subsequently arrested and charged with first-degree criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, per Sgt. Wayne Hudson of the Douglas County, Nebraska Sheriff’s office.
“You always just think you’re such a badass,” Smith told ESPN. “I just don’t feel like one. I feel… insufficient a little bit. I didn’t know it was possible to be that terrified.”
Smith (32-14) most recently defeated Alexander Gustafsson at UFC Stockholm last June. That fight saw him bounce back from an unsuccessful title bid against long-serving light heavyweight champ Jon Jones. Smith is next expected to face Glover Teixeira. The fight was anticipated to headline UFC Lincoln, but will likely be moved or rescheduled due to the coronavirus.
