At 50 years old, former UFC champ Maurice Smith returns to MMA

Maurice Smith and Mario Maranda working out at
 Ivan Salaverry's in Seattle

Former UFC heavyweight champion Maurice Smith (12-13), at 50 years old, will fight again.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed with sources close to the fighter that Smith will compete at March's aptly-named Resurrection Fighting Alliance 2 event.

Smith is expected to face Washington's Kyle "Kodiak" Keeney (12-7) at the event.

Resurrection Fighting Alliance 2 takes place March 30 at the Viaero Event Center in Kearney, Neb.

The headlining bout is expected to see Houston Alexander face Gilbert Yvel.

Smith, a kickboxing specialist, made his MMA debut in 1993 and fought his first six bouts under the Pancrase banner. He later made his way to the UFC, where a UFC 14 win over Mark Coleman saw him claim the promotion's heavyweight title. He then defended the belt against "Tank" Abbott at UFC 15 before surrendering the title to Randy Couture at UFC Japan.

Smith's final UFC appearance was at UFC 28 in November 2000. He's fought three times since, scoring a 2007 win over Marco Ruas and a 2008 victory over Rick Roufus before dropping a June 2008 bout to Hidehiko Yoshida.

Meanwhile, Keeney looks to snap a two-fight losing streak. Prior to the skid, Keeney had earned six wins in seven trips to the cage.

Kenney opened his career with a perfect 5-0 mark but then suffered through a four-fight losing streak against D.J. Linderman, Bristol Marunde, Lodune SIncaid and Mike Hayes.

The event is Resurrection Fighting Alliance's second-ever fight card. The first took place in December and featured MMA notables James Krause, Justin McCully, Jens Pulver and Gilbert Yvel, among others.