(Maurice Smith? I thought he was dead.)
Twice fired UFC heavyweight Tim Hague is determined to get back to the Octagon, but his choice of opponent for his upcoming fight likely won’t garner him another invite to the big show from matchmaker Joe Silva.
Hague (13-5), who spent a week at Brock Lesnar‘s Death Clutch gym to help the former UFC heavyweight champion prepare for his UFC 141 fight with Alistair Overeem is slated to take on aging UFC veteran Maurice Smith (12-13) in Brazil on January 20 under the Kumite Combate banner.
For those of us who thought Smith had retired, he pretty much did.
The 51-year-old, who is old enough to be Hague’s dad, hasn’t fought since 2008 when he lost to Hidehiko Yoshida by neck crank a Sengoku 3. That bout was only his third since being dropped by the UFC in 2000 after a loss at UFC 28.
Hague, 28, is 1-0 since being dropped by the UFC this time around with a win over 40-year-old 20-22-1 fighter Vince Lucero who is winless in his last 10 fights. “The Thrashing Machine” is 1-4 in five UFC starts with a win over Pat Barry and losses to Todd Duffee, Chris Tuscherer, Joey Beltran and Matt Mitrione.