UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith had to fend off a home invader in his Nebraska home in the early hours of Sunday morning, resulting in the man’s arrest on charges of first-degree criminal trespass, according to a report by ESPN.
Smith said he was awoken around 4 a.m. by the sound of the stranger in his house. Smith said he struggled for more than five minutes to subdue the man, identified as Luke Haberman, before police arrived.
“I didn’t know what he had,” Smith said. “Typically people don’t break into your house in the middle of the night for any good reasons. I’m expecting that I’m gonna hear a gunshot or he’s gonna stab me. Like he’s got something. I figure I’ve got about two minutes before whatever he’s got takes me out.”
Smith lives with family, including his wife, three daughters, and mother-in-law. He said that during the surprisingly difficult struggle with the smaller intruder, he took a knife handed to him by his mother-in-law, but the intruder continued to fight.
“No normal human is able to fight like that,” Smith said. “I’m by no means the baddest dude on the planet. But he’s a regular Joe, and I had a hard time dealing with him. And he took everything that I gave him – every punch, every knee, every elbow. He took every single one of them and kept fighting me.”
Members of the Douglas County (Neb.) Sheriff’s Dept. finally arrived, who managed to subdue Haberman. The trespass charge he’s facing is a misdemeanor.
Smith was overcome with a wide variety of emotions after the incident was over. But he was grateful that he and his family emerged from it safe.
“I’m not lying when I said it was one of the toughest fights I’ve had in my whole life,” Smith said. “I went into that fight ready to die. Nobody smart breaks into a house in the middle of the night unarmed. … When they break in at night, it’s to hurt people.”
Smith is scheduled to face Glover Teixeira in the main event of the April 25 card originally set for Lincoln, Neb. While the event is still on the schedule, it is likely to find a new venue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anthony Smith recounts home invasion incident: 'One of the toughest fights' in my life