Louis Smolka knew very little about his last opponent, and it cost him big time. And he’s OK with admitting that.
The UFC flyweight fought newcomer Brandon Moreno in October, and went into the UFC Fight Night 96 bout perhaps a little too confident. Moreno was coming off a stint on The Ultimate Fighter 24; he was the No. 16 seed on the show and lost in the opening round. Smolka, on the other hand, was on fire; he was riding a four-fight winning streak and had never looked better.
But he made a mistake. A massive favorite going into the main card opener, Smolka wasn’t sure what “The Baby Assassin” brought to the table. He wasn’t aware of Moreno’s legitimate jiu-jitsu abilities, and ended up getting caught in a guillotine in the first round. Smolka admitted that he absolutely overlooked Moreno.
“I probably should do more work as far as scouting my guys,” Smolka told BloodyElbow.com’s The MMA Circus. “I didn’t research him leading up into that fight; I just assumed he was a boxer. I just watched the TUF highlights of his one fight, so I was like, ‘Yeah, he seems like a striker.’ I looked at his record and he a lot of submissions, but I just assumed he would pound people into submission. I didn’t know he was an actual competition grappler.”
“The Last Samurai” was devastated after the upset loss. But he took a lot away from the shocking result and ultimately grew leaps and bounds as a fighter.
“I guess it’s something you just gotta accept,” he said. “It happened, and it sucks. I cried for a while, let my emotions out. I guess I just gotta keep moving forward. I mean, it sucks, but I can’t really do anything about it. It’s a loss. It’s there on my record forever; it happened.”
Moving forward, Smolka plans on researching his opponents more than he’s done in the past, and he’s already started to do so. He has a date with Ray Borg at UFC 207 next Friday, and has spent more time than usual looking at Borg’s fighting style, strengths, and weaknesses.
The 25-year-old doesn’t feel like he needs to train any harder than he already is, but for him, training smarter is key. He said that since the loss to Moreno, he’s been putting in more effort and paying more attention.
“I let some stuff go last camp. I played it kind of fast and loose. I was like, ‘Oh, who’s this guy? Sure, I’ll fight him!’ It is a little reckless when you think about it, but I thought I could get away with it. So I guess I have to be smarter.”
Smolka said he’s “grateful” to be given a rebound fight so soon. After his momentum coming to a sudden halt, he has a chance to get back into the mix at 125 pounds on Dec. 30 on the main card of one of the biggest pay-per-views of the year.
“I don’t want to go out like that. That Moreno fight sucked. I don’t want to be remembered like that,” he said. “It is nice to be able to get a chance at redemption so quickly.”