The UFC didn’t wait long to have talks with Elijah Smith about his future with the promotion.

On Saturday night, Smith became the first man to knockout veteran Davey Grant to continue his undefeated run inside the Octagon.

The 24-year-old’s 60-second finish earned him his second Performance of the Night bonus, with his first coming when Smith stopped Toshiomi Kazama with a slam.

It’s therefore far from surprising that the promotion’s bosses chose to act quickly following comments that the rising star made in his post-fight interview.

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Elijah Smith shares details of conversation with Hunter Campbell following UFC Vegas 124 win

After beating Davey Grant in impressive fashion, Elijah Smith announced that this was the final bout on a four-fight deal that he signed with the UFC.

“I’m a free agent,” he said in his post-fight interview. “That’s been the talks around this whole fight week. I’ll be talking to you guys shortly.”

It seems highly unlikely that the promotion wouldn’t have been interested in re-signing Smith even if his return on November 7 hadn’t gone his way.

With ‘Swift’ now having three finishes in four UFC wins, and having just produced by far his biggest win to date, he is in a great position when it comes to renegotiating his contract.

After Smith was seen talking to the UFC’s Hunter Campbell on his way out of the cage, he was asked about this during his post-fight press conference.

“It was a good exchange and I feel like we’re on to something,” he said, via MMA Junkie. “Probably something big might come up, that’s what I’m expecting so he just gave me props on the fight and we’ll see what happens after that.”

It seems likely that this “something big” Smith is referring to will be an improved contract, though it wouldn’t be surprising to see him earn a much bigger spotlight for his next outing.

Considering that all four of his fights have taken place on Fight Night events, the highlights he’s already delivered should be more than enough to justify him competing on the main card of a numbered event soon.

It could have been a distraction during Smith’s preparations for this fight knowing that his future with the UFC wasn’t secured despite his impressive run.

He didn’t say whether it was his decision or the promotion’s to wait until after UFC Vegas 124 to have contract talks.

However this process played out, it has massively worked out in Smith’s favor due to how impressive he was when facing an opponent that has 17 Octagon outings under his belt.