Devonte Smith opens up about torn Achilles, recovery progress and timetable for UFC return

The second half of 2019 wasn't too kind to UFC lightweight Devonte Smith, but he's taking it in stride.

The second half of 2019 wasn’t too kind to UFC lightweight Devonte Smith, but he’s taking it in stride.

At UFC 241 in August, Smith (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) was finished by Khama Worthy in one of the biggest upsets of the year. In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Smith said he has no excuses in defeat.

“I lost,” Smith said. “I can come up with 500 million things as to why I lost, how I lost, when I lost, where I lost. I lost. It is what it is. I got it out of the way. I’m cool. I look at the loss moreso as what opportunity presents itself rather than, ‘Oh, why me?’ Shoot, Jon Jones lost. Demetrious Johnson lost. You lose. I don’t want to do it again, though.”

Smith’s bad luck didn’t stop at the loss. Shortly after his fight with Worthy, Smith suffered a torn Achilles tendon in training. The injury required surgery. Now Smith is on the shelf, focusing on rehab and recovery.

“I feel as a fighter we have really high pain tolerance,” Smith said. “A lot of things that may hurt, whether it’s broken bones or a torn Achilles, you can’t really tell. I was sparring against my dude Yusuff and he threw a flying knee to a head kick. I just backed up with the same back step that I’ve done a million times. It felt like somebody bumped into me. When I blocked it, it felt like somebody bumped into me because it just gave out.

“I’m like, ‘Ooh. I feel like I just sprained my ankle or something.’ I’m asking people to take my gloves off to let me rub it – let me hold myself. Man, I was like, ‘This is some pain.’ It wasn’t too bad. It was like five minutes. Then, the next five minutes was like me breathing myself down. I’m like, ‘All right, I’m cool.’ I stand up and I just wiggle down like, ‘Oops, hold on. Something is wrong.'”

Smith underwent surgery in November. Typically, a torn Achilles has an 8 to 12 month recovery timetable, Smith said. However, the longer he holds out, the stronger his Achilles will be. Smith said he’s not focusing on fighting, while his Achilles calls the shots.

“I believe eight months to a year,” Smith said. “They said the longer you wait, the better it is. I can come back 110 percent. I hear a lot of stories and had a lot of people hit me up saying they had the same situation happen to them when their Achilles tore. They came back and they’re great. They just tell me to take my time. That’s all I hear from other athletes – just to take my time. That’s all I’ve been doing.

“… I’m looking to come back when my Achilles says, ‘Hey Devonte, you’re 110 percent.’ Like, ‘All right, cool.’ I’ll go do my thing.”

Check out MMA Junkie’s full interview with Devonte Smith below: