Two undefeated welterweight prospects in Jacobe Smith and Josiah Harrell faced off on the UFC Houston main card on Saturday, and their career paths to this point could not have been more different.
Smith has been touted as a future star by the promotion, who has put him front and center and media days early in his career. Harrell was actually signed by the UFC in 2023, but a brain scan detected an abnormality, and his career was iced for a time.
After undergoing complex brain surgery and being on the mend for a year, he worked his way back to fighting, and back to the UFC, stepping up to replace Seok Hyeon Ko on short notice in the fight against Smith.
With identical 11-0 records coming into UFC Houston, barring a draw or no contest, someone’s 0 was about to go.
Round one opened with Harrell shooting first, but Smith easily shrugged it off and immediately started finding success with heavy outside leg kicks. Smith mixed in a clean body kick and briefly got the fight to the mat before securing another takedown moments later, tossing Harrell down with authority.
Harrell refused to settle on bottom and worked to create scrambles, clearly bothered by the damage to his lead leg. He shot for his own takedown and completed it, but Smith instantly reversed the position. From side control, Smith unleashed a barrage of brutal elbows. Harrell was out cold from the strikes, and the referee (Kerry Hatley) stepped in late to wave it off. Real late, and when he did, he physically shoved Smith with considerable emphasis to get him out of the way. Hatley appeared irked with Smith initially, but in reality, the call was late.
Not a great call, and not a popular one online among fans. Added to some bad stoppage and a slow stoppage in Edwards-Cornolle, it was not a good night for officiating at UFC Houston.
Kerry Hatley watching Harrell take 12 unanswered punches while completely unconscious: pic.twitter.com/99nYj5rxUh
— MacMally 🍀 (@MacMallyMMA) February 22, 2026
Official Result: Jacobe Smith def. Josiah Harrell by knockout (ground n’ pound), Round 1, 3:01
