Tag: Louis Smolka

Smolka & Michailidis Among Five Fighters Who’ve Departed UFC

Bantamweight veteran Louis Smolka is the most notable of five names who’ve reportedly exited the UFC, with three fighters who competed at UFC Vegas 56 this past weekend also departing. While it’s unclear whether the UFC has parted ways with these athletes due to contract expirations or cuts, UFC Roster Watch on Twitter has reported…

Continue Reading Smolka & Michailidis Among Five Fighters Who’ve Departed UFC at MMA News.

Bantamweight veteran Louis Smolka is the most notable of five names who’ve reportedly exited the UFC, with three fighters who competed at UFC Vegas 56 this past weekend also departing.

While it’s unclear whether the UFC has parted ways with these athletes due to contract expirations or cuts, UFC Roster Watch on Twitter has reported that all five have been removed from the promotion’s books.

Perhaps the main interest will be the future of Smolka. “Da Last Samurai” has had two stints in the UFC, the first of which came between 2014 and 2016. Despite a 5-1 start, four straight defeats, including to Brandon Moreno and Ray Borg, saw him released.

After three regional victories brought him back to the Octagon, Smolka went 3-4 in his second UFC tenure, most recently losing back-to-back outings against Vince Morales and Davey Grant.

After news of his exit broke, Smolka took to Twitter to express excitement at the possibility of exploring free agency in the coming weeks and months.

Also to go is lightweight Frank Camacho. The former PXC champion arrived in the UFC with an impressive 20-4 record. Despite an inconsistent 2-4 start in the Octagon, “The Crank” had been tasked with tough competition, falling to defeats against Li Jingliang, Drew Dober, and Geoff Neal at welterweight, as well as to Beneil Dariush at 155 pounds.

But after consecutive first-round TKO setbacks against Justin Jaynes and Manuel Torres, Camacho’s time is up in the UFC, with the 33-year-old ending his Octagon stint at 2-6.

Three UFC Vegas 56 Fighters Meet The Door

Joining Smolka and Camacho outside MMA’s premier promotion are three defeated fighters from this past weekend’s UFC Vegas 56 card.

The first, women’s strawweight Felice Herrig, is expected. The veteran fighter fell to a fourth straight defeat during Saturday’s prelims. Having lost to Michelle Waterson and Virna Jandiroba since a 2018 defeat against Karolina Kowalkiewicz, “Lil Bulldog” looked to get back in the win column by avenging her past loss to the Pole.

Instead, the 37-year-old was submitted in the second round, a result that has seemingly marked her final appearance in the cage. After the defeat, Herrig left her gloves inside the Octagon, and later confirmed her retirement at the post-fight press conference.

Also departing is Alex da Silva. The once-highly touted Brazilian returned this past weekend after nearly two years on the sidelines. Marking consecutive losses for the first time in his career, “Leko” fell on the wrong side of a majority decision verdict, with a point deduction for multiple fence grabs not helping his cause.

While he was perhaps unlucky not to leave the cage with a draw, da Silva’s performance certainly wasn’t what many had expected. At the age of 26, the Brazilian will look to rebound on the regional scene and perhaps earn back his place on the roster soon enough.

Finally, Andreas Michailidis’ desire to bounce back with a venture into a third weight class didn’t go to plan. The welterweight debutant was the victim of a mightily-impressive debut from Rinat Fakhretdinov.

With his previous defeat coming to world-class kickboxer Alex Pereira, the Greek fighter’s two-fight skid has certainly not come against low-level opposition. Nevertheless, it’s seemingly been enough for him to exit the MMA leader.

Do any of these UFC departures surprise you?

Continue Reading Smolka & Michailidis Among Five Fighters Who’ve Departed UFC at MMA News.

Davey Grant Eager to Earn Set’s His Sights On Trilogy Showdown With Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera

Davey GrantWhen Davey Grant steps into the Octagon at UFC Vegas 54, he hopes it will be the beginning of a winning streak that leads to a trilogy bout with Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera.  Grant (11-6-0) will be attempting to get back into the win column for the first time in over a year when he faces […]

Davey Grant

When Davey Grant steps into the Octagon at UFC Vegas 54, he hopes it will be the beginning of a winning streak that leads to a trilogy bout with Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera. 

Grant (11-6-0) will be attempting to get back into the win column for the first time in over a year when he faces Louis Smolka on Saturday. When Grant and Vera first squared off, it was in February 2016, three years removed from Grant’s stint on season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter. Grant earned the victory via unanimous decision.

Fast forward five years, Grant and Vera would meet once again in June 2021. In the rematch, Vera would even the score with a unanimous decision win of his own. 

Davey Grant Speaks on a Potential Trilogy Bout with Marlon Vera

While speaking with Mirror Fighting, Davey Grant expressed a desire to complete the trilogy, but recognizes that much work needs to be done to earn that opportunity.

“That would be great to go and get the rubber match on,” Grant said. “I beat him first time and then he won the rematch. I’m sure he would be up for it, the only thing is the trajectory of his career has gone up so much since we fought. I probably need to win my next three fights and one of those has to be against a guy ranked in the top ten in order for that fight to make sense again.

“From my point of view, I definitely want to get that on. I’m sure he would as it would be a big fight. The last one between us was a good fight, we’re one and one, it makes sense. I’m just going to try and work my way up to that.”

At 36 years old, Davey Grant recognizes that he is on the back-end of his combat sports career that started in 2008. Throughout his career, Grant has had his ups and downs, but has always valued being a “barnstormer” in the Octagon rather than a fighter who just wins fights.

Despite holding a record of 4-5 in the UFC, Grant has been a fan favorite for his balls-to-the-wall style of fighting. Fans no doubt would love to see a third meeting between Davey Grant and Marlon Vera, but ‘Dangerous’ has quite the hill to climb if he hopes to face the #5 ranked bantamweight in the world and it all starts with Louis Smolka on Saturday.

Sean O’Malley Shares Conspiracy Theory About Louis Smolka’s UFC 264 Withdrawal

Sean O'Malley‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley has a theory about why his original UFC 264 opponent, Louis Smolka, withdrew from their scheduled match-up less than two weeks out. The official reason for Smolka’s sudden withdrawal is that he was declared medically unfit to fight due to an infection. ‘Da Last Samurai’ insists he still wanted to fight at […]

Sean O'Malley

‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley has a theory about why his original UFC 264 opponent, Louis Smolka, withdrew from their scheduled match-up less than two weeks out.

The official reason for Smolka’s sudden withdrawal is that he was declared medically unfit to fight due to an infection. ‘Da Last Samurai’ insists he still wanted to fight at UFC 264. Smolka says he still hopes to fight O’Malley “down the line”.

“I was really excited for this fight,” Smolka wrote on social media. “Being from Hawai’i, I have that jus scrap mentality so if it were solely up to me, I’d still fight. But, I have an infection so unfortunately I’ve been deemed medically unfit. It sucks, but we have to be responsible about my health and the health of my training partners and opponent. I understand that Sean is set to stay on the card so I wish him the best. I’m sure we will see each other down the line.

“This is a bummer, but it’s the reality of fight camps and continuous training. We are optimistic that we can get a new date set for you all when I my infection clears.

“Thank you to my family, the @ufc, my managers, nutritionist, coaches, team, and the fans for the help and support. I appreciate you all very much. We are known for turning setbacks into comebacks, so that’s the plan.”

O’Malley isn’t buying Smolka’s reason for withdrawal. The popular bantamweight fighter took to his YouTube channel to provide an alternative theory on his opponent’s pull-out.

“Smolka’s manager was at my gym, watching me spar the other day, a couple of weeks ago and I was on fire. I was on fire,” O’Malley said. “He asked Tim and I respectfully, he said, ‘Hey do you mind if I sit and watch?… I said, ‘Watch, tell him whatever you want, I don’t care.’ I looked f*ck*ing sharp that day. This is complete conspiracy theory. I looked sharp, I was on f*cking fire.”

“Sparring day for me is an opportunity to perform,” O’Malley added. “In my head, it’s the fight. I gotta perform, I gotta do what I do in the octagon… Did his manager go and say, ‘Hey bud, I love you, don’t take this fight. I don’t want you to die.’ Smolka’s licking fu**ing wrestling mats trying to get staph, I don’t know if you can get staph…That’s a conspiracy theory, maybe that’s what happened, maybe not.” (Transcribed by Essentially Sports)

O’Malley is now set to face UFC newcomer Kris Moutinho on the undercard of Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor III on July 10.

Do you think Sean O’Malley could be onto something with his conspiracy theory surrounding Louis Smolka’s withdrawal from UFC 264?

Louis Smolka Releases Statement, Believes He Will Face Sean O’Malley Down The Line

SmolkaLouis Smolka has released a statement detailing what led to his recent withdrawal. Smolka was expected to open up the UFC 264 main card on Saturday in a bantamweight matchup with rising star Sean O’Malley. That was until it was reported that Smolka had to pull out due to injury. In the scramble since, O’Malley […]

Smolka

Louis Smolka has released a statement detailing what led to his recent withdrawal.

Smolka was expected to open up the UFC 264 main card on Saturday in a bantamweight matchup with rising star Sean O’Malley. That was until it was reported that Smolka had to pull out due to injury.

In the scramble since, O’Malley will remain on the card as he will instead battle promotional newcomer Kris Moutinho on short notice. As for what led to Smolka pulling out, it was an infection that deemed him medically unfit to compete despite wanting to fight through it.

He’s hoping to get a new fight date once the infection clears and that he will meet O’Malley down the line.

“I was really excited for this fight,” Smolka wrote on Instagram. “Being from Hawai’i, I have that jus scrap mentality so if it were solely up to me, I’d still fight. But, I have an infection so unfortunately I’ve been deemed medically unfit. It sucks, but we have to be responsible about my health and the health of my training partners and opponent. I understand that Sean is set to stay on the card so I wish him the best. I’m sure we will see each other down the line.

“This is a bummer, but it’s the reality of fight camps and continuous training. We are optimistic that we can get a new date set for you all when I my infection clears.

“Thank you to my family, the @ufc, my managers, nutritionist, coaches, team, and the fans for the help and support. I appreciate you all very much. We are known for turning setbacks into comebacks, so that’s the plan.”

Smolka was looking to make it two wins in a row having last TKO’d Jose Quinonez in December.

O’Malley will also look to make it two wins in a row after he knocked out Thomas Almeida in March. It was his first fight since suffering his first professional defeat against Marlon Vera last year.

“Suga” Sean O’Malley Returns At UFC 264 Against Louis Smolka

The “Suga Show” will be live and in full rainbow color when Sean O’Malley takes the Octagon opposite veteran Louis Smolka at UFC 264 on July 10. Originally reported by Ryan Frederick of The Wrestling Observer, news of O’Malley’s second bout of 2021 was…

The “Suga Show” will be live and in full rainbow color when Sean O’Malley takes the Octagon opposite veteran Louis Smolka at UFC 264 on July 10. Originally reported by Ryan Frederick of The Wrestling Observer, news of O’Malley’s second bout of 2021 was revealed on Monday. UFC 264 will of course be headlined by […]

UFC Fighter Chalks Up B.J. Penn’s Bar Fight To Typical Night In Hawaii

B.J. Penn has been in trouble as of late. Recently, TMZ released a video of him fighting a citizen outside a bar. It also showed him get knocked out cold. Which resulted in UFC president, Dana White saying the Hawaiian will never fight again. Now, fell…

B.J. Penn has been in trouble as of late. Recently, TMZ released a video of him fighting a citizen outside a bar. It also showed him get knocked out cold. Which resulted in UFC president, Dana White saying the Hawaiian will never fight again. Now, fellow Hawaiian, and UFC bantamweight, Louis Smolka weighed in on […]

The post UFC Fighter Chalks Up B.J. Penn’s Bar Fight To Typical Night In Hawaii appeared first on MMA News.