I'm with you. Could just be me, but I felt that Smith was in his own head A LOT (be)for(e) the fight and that you could see it in all his "wise", positive self-reaffirming statements he made fight week and especially after the fight (easy to downplay your opponent when you've already beaten them). But I suspect he was legit scared going in, and was thinking about retiring if he lost.
Allll that being said, he absolutely earned that W not only in the cage, but like you say, he went into hostile territory as a huge underdog and with a mediocre record (at this point) and finished the undefeated prospect and derailed the hype-train in the first round.