One minute and one second into the first round of the Fury FC 92 co-main event in Houston, Texas on Sunday, Jewish-Israeli welterweight brawler, Shimon “the assassin” Smotritsky had already won.
Fury FC (Fury Fighting Championship) is a professional mixed martial arts organization that promotes fights between top-tier combat athletes.
The 23-year-old native of Holon, Israel went into the fight representing the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 of last year.
Before the fight, Smotritsky walked into the room where he first publicly faced off against his 33-year-old American opponent, Aaron Phillips, wearing both a Star of David and a “Bring Them Home” dog tag.
“I try my best to bring awareness to the world of what's happening in Israel, bring awareness of the hostages, of the whole situation,” Smotritsky told the Jerusalem Post. “I always fight with the Israeli flag and the Star of David, but this fight I also fought with the ‘Bring Them Home’ logo.”
Still, despite the war, Smotritsky says his mentality hasn’t changed.
“Even before the war started, I was always 100% Zionist, 100% Jewish. I never hide it. I'm super proud of it.”
After stepping into the Octagon, the much-anticipated fight was over in a flash.
Approaching the one-minute mark, Smotritsky, standing at 6 '2, had asserted dominance over the center of the cage.
Advancing on Phillips, whose back was already near the edge of the Octagon, Smotritsky switched into a southpaw (left) stance, mirroring Phillips’s orthodox (right) stance.
Three heavy rear leg kicks from Smotritsky quickly followed. All three landed on Phillips’s right side, just below the elbow he intended to block with.
On the third kick, the American dropped, back slumped against the cage. The assassin came in raining blows, but the fight was already over, and the referee quickly jumped in to stop it.
Bring Them Home Now
After the referee delivered the official decision, a technical knockout, Smotritsky, Israeli flag draped around his shoulders, pinched at a leg of his shorts, highlighting the “Bring Them Home Now” logo printed there.
Smotritsky’s latest win follows an August 2023 victory against Kenan Jackson and brings his official professional record to 11-2-0.
His journey to a 61-second victory in this latest fight came after months of hard work and grueling training.
Since the start of the war, Smotritsky says he’s faced other challenges that have arisen because of his Jewish-Israeli identity as well.
In addition to hateful messages sent to him online, which he says he doesn’t care about, and which he can ignore without issue, certain other fighters in his gym have been giving him the cold shoulder.
Others, however, he says have been supportive and helped him achieve new heights as a fighter. One of these training partners is former middleweight champion and world-famous fighter Sean Strickland.
Speaking on the conflict, Smotritsky noted that Strickland has said he is against war, but recognizes Israel as being in the right.
“He supports us, he supports Israel. He knows that we are on the right side in this conflict,” Smotritsky said. “He’s definitely on our side.”
Asked how it felt to be able to use his platform to amplify the situation of the hostages still held in Gaza, the Israeli brawler emphasized how profound it was for him.
“It means the world to me. This is a huge part of my motivation to fight and win. I wanted to show people that I’m a Zionist, that I’m Jewish, [and] we can fight,” he said. “The thought that, because of me, hundreds of thousands of people watching UFC Fight Pass live saw this message, and that it maybe did something to them, makes me proud.”