Credit: Sarpy County, Nebraska

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith faces years in prison stemming from an alleged domestic violence incident.

Anthony Smith is headed to trial after pleading ‘not guilty’ to four felony charges stemming from an incident with his wife earlier this summer.

Smith, 38, retired from mixed martial arts following a loss to Zhang Mingyang at UFC Kansas City last year. After hanging up the gloves, Smith has transitioned into full-time broadcasting as a key fixture of Paramount’s UFC coverage.

Smith and his wife were involved in an altercation at a bar on July 26th in Gretna, Nebraska, in which the former UFC star allegedly ‘threatened to kill her’ if she didn’t leave with him. According to Sarpy County police, Smith then allegedly physically forced her inside the vehicle before she escaped during the drive.

Smith allegedly attempted to run over his wife near their house before police eventually arrived at the scene. He was booked into Sarpy County jail and released on a $500k bond.

Smith appeared in a Sarpy County courtroom on Monday and pled ‘not guilty’ to charges of terroristic threats, false imprisonment, and domestic violence.

Anthony Smith set for trial, faces up to 50 years in prison after alleged domestic incident

Now, Smith and his legal team will return to court on September 21st for an arraignment hearing. If found guilty of the above charges, Smith potentially faces up to 20 years in prison.

As of this writing, Smith hasn’t commented publicly on his arrest and his current legal troubles. UFC CEO Dana White recently commented on Smith’s arrest, stating he ‘didn’t expect’ to learn of Smith’s current predicament.

Smith returned to Mixed Martial Arts earlier this year at Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 9, defeating former UFC heavyweight Chase Sherman by first-round submission. He defeated the likes of Alexander Gustafsson, Volkan Oezdemir, and Shogun Rua during his UFC tenure.

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