Louis Smolka has an idea he thinks could help fix the major issue in MMA that is extreme weight cutting.
Smolka, who recently re-signed with the UFC as a bantamweight, fought Kyle Estrada at California Xtreme Fighting (CXF) 15 on Oct. 20. Smolka extended his winning streak to three in a row with a second-round TKO, but had to overcome some adversity to get there. “Da Last Samurai” was dropped in the first round, but ultimately survived to get the job done at the end of the second frame.
Estrada missed weight for the flyweight title fight, tipping the scale at 129 pounds, while Smolka successfully made weight at 125 pounds. Estrada gave up $750 of his $2,000 purse, all of which went to his opponent, per both Smolka and Estrada.
This wasn’t the first time Smolka fought an overweight opponent (he lost to Ray Borg at UFC 207 in December 2016), and now the Hawaiian fighter wants something to be done about athletes missing weight — which is quickly becoming a norm in the sport.
“The whole idea behind MMA is it’s supposed to be a fair fight, and that’s why there’s weight classes, so guys (that are) different sizes aren’t fighting each other,” Smolka told Bloody Elbow. “Guys missing weight, it takes away from it. It’s not a fair fight anymore. It’s like a street fight.
“I know four or five pounds doesn’t seem like a lot, but that’s like four percent of my body weight. It’s a large amount. On a light heavyweight, that’s like eight to 10 pounds.”
Smolka proposed that fighters who miss weight should not be allowed to re-hydrate until the end of the early weigh-in period. According to both Smolka and Estrada, Estrada weighed in near the beginning of the two-hour period, while Smolka weighed in near the end. This, Smolka said, gave Estrada an advantage in the fight, as he had more time — about an hour more — to recover from the weight cut.
Smolka said if overweight fighters are in “such dire need to be re-hydrated,” then a doctor should medically evaluate them to see if they are fit to compete the following day. At that point, there is a chance the fighter could be removed from the card if that’s the safest scenario as determined by the doctor.
“There should be more done by the state and the commission,” Smolka said. “[Missing weight] should just be taken harsher.”
If not allowing fighters to re-hydrate is too much of a risk to the health and safety of athletes, Smolka said, then overweight fighters could be allowed to re-hydrate (and still evaluated by a doctor), but would have to re-weigh in at the end of the period. Then the subsequent fine could be based off how much weight the fighter gained back just within the weigh-in period, Smolka suggested.
“He might’ve showed up at the beginning at 129, but by the end of those two hours, what if he was already 133, 134, because he had already started drinking?” Smolka asked. “I want to negotiate his purse dedication off that, because 129 is kind of like a deflated number.”
Smolka added that having overweight fighters weigh in a second time (at the end of the weigh-in period) would help their opponents decide whether or not they still want to take the fight — a situation Smolka found himself in just a month ago.
“If guys do miss weight, we should know how much weight they’re gaining back quickly,” Smolka said. “If you weigh them again at the end of the weigh-in period, you’ll have a more accurate weight discrepancy, so you’ll be able to gauge it better.”
Andy Foster, executive director of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC), which oversaw the event, isn’t in favor of Smolka’s idea, because not allowing overweight fighters to re-hydrate right away would be too dangerous.
“It’s not a good solution,” Foster told Bloody Elbow. “If an MMA fighter has missed weight, the most obvious reason was that despite their best effort, they’re dehydrated incredibly bad. If they’ve missed weight, they most likely need to drink water. That’s the most likely scenario.”
That said, Foster praised Smolka for thinking and talking about extreme weight cutting, highlighting it as a big issue in MMA. Foster said Smolka is headed in the right direction.
“It’s good to have ideas. I applaud his idea,” Foster said, adding that he would rather increase the current fine of 20 percent. “I don’t want to seem disrespectful. He’s looking at it a little differently than I’m looking at it — he’s looking at it from a competitor’s standpoint, and I’m looking at it more from a what’s-good-for-the-whole-sport standpoint.”
As a fellow athlete, Estrada said he understands where Smolka is coming from. He said he would prefer if fighters were just forced to wait until their opponents arrived at the weigh-ins and stepped onto the scale at the same time, instead of waiting until the very end of the weigh-in period.
Ultimately, though, Estrada isn’t sure Smolka’s idea will help rid the sport of extreme weight cutting.
“We need education on nutrition and how to cut weight,” Estrada told Bloody Elbow.
Smolka and Estrada weighed in four pounds apart on weigh-in day and 2.4 pounds on fight day, per a CSAC document obtained by Bloody Elbow. Smolka went from 125 to 140.8 pounds, and Estrada 129 to 143.2 pounds. CSAC recommended both fighters move up to bantamweight after the fight. Smolka walks around at about 150 pounds, and Estrada walks around at about 145 pounds, according to both fighters.
Since the fight, Smolka re-signed with the UFC and will compete as a 135-pound fighter moving forward. Estrada said he plans to compete in both weight classes in the future.
Smolka, who said he never considered turning down the fight after Estrada missed weight because he needed the money and to fight as much as possible, said he believes Estrada wouldn’t have been able to drop him had he made weight.
“He shouldn’t have been able to hit me that hard,” Smolka said. “He was only able to do that because he didn’t make weight. He was only able to hit that hard and that fast because he didn’t kill himself making weight.
“It’s not about the weight the day of; it’s about the cut that happens to your muscles. It takes away all your explosion.”
Estrada, however, disagrees with Smolka; he said his weight miss didn’t increase his chances of the knockdown. It would have happened regardless, Estrada said.
“Four pounds doesn’t make it different,” Estrada said. “Go back and look at his other fights. He’s been rocked by flyweights throughout his entire UFC career. I have accuracy; sorry buddy.”
Estrada, who before last month had only missed weight once in his career and that was in his second professional fight, said he believes he missed weight because he “messed up” his water intake. Estrada said he “panicked” on the Wednesday before the Saturday fight, and did not finish the gallon and a half of water he usually drinks that day. And on Thursday, he only drank half a gallon; he usually drinks a gallon or more.
He said the cut to 130 pounds was easier than usual, but after that, the weight simply wouldn’t come off. He tried everything, from the treadmill, hot tub, and sauna to a mummy wrap.
“I was just trying to think of ways not to end up in the hospital,” Estrada said.
Estrada said he hopes to hire a nutritionist following this weight miss, adding that once he gets to the UFC — thus starting to make more money in MMA — focusing on cutting weight properly will be top priority.
In the fight, Smolka climbed to 14-5 as a pro, while Estrada dropped to 8-4.
Smolka re-signed with the UFC last week and is set to meet promotion newcomer Sumudaerji Sumudaerji on short notice at UFC Beijing on Saturday. The fight marks Smolka’s first fight at bantamweight since 2013.
Smolka was cut by the UFC at the end of 2017 when he lost to Matheus Nicolau at UFC 219, extending a skid to four losses in a row. Smolka is 5-5 in the UFC overall.