{"id":841738,"date":"2026-03-29T22:10:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T22:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/841738\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T22:10:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T22:10:23","slug":"seahawks-star-jaxon-smith-njigba-calls-out-rivals-during-ufc-appearance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/841738\/","title":{"rendered":"Seahawks Star Jaxon Smith-Njigba Calls Out Rivals During UFC Appearance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2259665766-e1774808023291.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Jaxon Smith-Njigba\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA &#8211; FEBRUARY 02: Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks speaks to the media during Super Bowl LX Opening Night at San Jose McEnery Convention Center on February 02, 2026 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>The offseason is in full swing for <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/\" title=\"NFL\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"208342\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL<\/a> players, and <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/seattle-seahawks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Seattle Seahawks<\/a> star WR <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/jaxon-smith-njigba\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jaxon Smith-Njigba<\/a> is enjoying his time off. The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/9eNTBMN2Uvw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">spotted in fighter Michael Chiesa\u2019s corner<\/a> on Saturday night, standing with him after his win.<\/p>\n<p>It was a fantastic breakout season for Smith-Njigba, who was the best offensive player on a Seahawks team that won the Super Bowl in convincing fashion. After posting 100 receptions for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns in a strong 2024 season, Smith-Njigba had 119 receptions for 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns in the regular season alone.<\/p>\n<p>Seattle Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba Throws Shade at His Rivals During UFC Event<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5866315\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5866315\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2260418491-e1774814165992.jpg\" alt=\"Jaxon Smith-Njigba\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5866315\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GettySEATTLE, WASHINGTON \u2013 JANUARY 25: Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks catches the ball against Roger McCreary #25 of the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/los-angeles-rams\/\" title=\"Los Angeles Rams\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"208341\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Rams<\/a> in the NFC Championship game at Lumen Field on January 25, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>During the big UFC fight night on Saturday, Smith-Njigba was being interviewed on the desk and was asked if there were any cornerbacks he\u2019d played against that he\u2019d love to get a chance to take down in the cage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDefinitely not <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/devon-witherspoon\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Devon Witherspoon<\/a>,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/ZgVMmOa70jo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Smith-Njigba joked when asked which cornerback he\u2019d like to fight in the octagon<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s a wild guy. You know, there\u2019s a couple guys out there. Anyone from the LA Rams or the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/san-francisco-49ers\/\" title=\"San Francisco 49ers\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"208340\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">San Francisco 49ers<\/a>, you know what I\u2019m saying? I\u2019d happily get in the ring with [them].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGosh, I think <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/leonard-williams\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Leonard Williams<\/a> would be pretty good,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/PqWkWHOgUso\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Smith-Njigba said on which of his teammates would be the best at UFC<\/a>. \u201cHe would take up a lot of space in the octagon, and that\u2019s just a scary dude you really don\u2019t want to see, you know what I\u2019m saying, inside the cage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Seattle Seahawks Might Address Cornerback in the Draft<\/p>\n<p>The Seahawks just won the Super Bowl and as such, don\u2019t have many roster deficiencies. Still, after <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/riq-woolen\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Riq Woolen<\/a> departed in free agency, cornerback stands out as probably the biggest need for Seattle.<\/p>\n<p>San Diego State\u2019s Chris Johnson is a prospect that\u2019s been connected to the Seahawks, and there\u2019s a good chance he\u2019ll be available when Seattle picks at No. 32. Johnson was PFF\u2019s highest-graded cornerback in 2025 and he had fantastic performances at both the Senior Bowl and the Scouting Combine. He projects as an excellent fit in Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald\u2019s system, too.<\/p>\n<p>Two other cornerbacks I\u2019m really high on are Texas\u2019 Malik Muhammad and Georgia\u2019s Daylen Everette. I have first-round grades on both, but either one could certainly be available where the Seahawks are picking in the second round. Muhammad played a lot of off zone coverage for the Longhorns, but he\u2019s big and physical with great ball skills and fluidity in space that makes him an ideal fit for press coverage, too.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Everette\u2019s tape at Georgia was a bit up and down at times, but he started to put it together towards the tail end of this past season. He was electric at the Combine, proving his real, translatable athleticism and twitchy burst that makes him such a dangerous player.<\/p>\n<p>Any of those prospects would be excellent additions for the Seahawks.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/seattle-seahawks\/mike-washington-draft-prospect-walker-replacement\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774822223_546_GettyImages-22606183792-e1774624924277.jpg\" width=\"242\" height=\"161\" class=\"size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/ethanmwoodie\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ethan Woodie<\/a> is an accomplished sports writer specializing in the NFL and college football for Heavy.com. He&#8217;s written for Heavy since 2025 and has years of experience writing for NFL Trade Rumors and Pro Football Focus (PFF). Woodie is an expert in draft scouting and his final 2025 Big Board was included in Arif Hasan&#8217;s media consensus board for Wide Left. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/ethanmwoodie\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Ethan Woodie<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Seahawks\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA &#8211; FEBRUARY 02: Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks speaks to the media&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2081],"tags":[7,6,238,237,261,2635],"class_list":{"0":"post-841738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-seahawks","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-seahawks","11":"tag-seattle","12":"tag-seattle-seahawks","13":"tag-seattleseahawks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116314756404209232","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}