It wasn’t long ago when Devonte Smith regularly made the two-hour drive from Cleveland to Pittsburgh to train at The Academy in Pittsburgh.
He’d take pictures during the drive, posting captions like “This ain’t gonna last forever” or “Work hard.” When he looks back, he’s proud of the “commitment, consistency and vast sacrifice” it took to make it into the UFC, where he currently holds a 2-0 record. Smith trains at Factory X in Colorado now, but those days in Pittsburgh were formative in his journey to the sport’s biggest stage.