For UFC Fight Night 35 winner Louis Smolka, nerves gone by fight time

Making his UFC debut on less than a month’s notice, Louis Smolka could be forgiven if he was a little nervous come fight time. But the thing is, he wasn’t.

Now, leading up to the fight, that’s a different story.

Smolka (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) made his debut this past Wednesday against Alptekin Ozkilic (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC), and took home a unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 35.

The flyweight fight was a good one – good enough, in fact, that UFC President Dana White told MMAjunkie after the event that it was headed toward a $50,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus before a main-card fight between Yoel Romero and Derek Brunson trumped it.

So Smolka at least got his boss’s attention, which can only wind up being a good thing at this early stage of his career. The Hawaiian took the fight with just six pro bouts under his belt.

“It was tough, but I did my best,” Smolka on Tuesday told MMAjunkie Radio. “What’s surprising is, the whole week I was freaking out. I’m not really sure what it was, but I started hitting pads in the back and I was ready to go.”

Smolka gave credit to his coaching staff for making sure he was ready to go in the striking department against Ozkilic, who was coming off a solid debut win of his own.

“I just thank my team for that,” he said. “For the three weeks we had, we game planned really well. We knew he was going to try to take me down. And really all he threw was an overhand right and left hook, so we kind of knew the angles.”

One thing Smolka couldn’t have game planned for, though, was the scene behind the scenes. Backstage at UFC Fight Night 35, which took place at Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga., just north of Atlanta, Smolka found himself bumping into all kinds of MMA standouts he’s looked up to through the years – and still.

He may have been calm come fight time, but he admits to being a little overwhelmed backstage.

“I just tried not to be starstruck,” Smolka said. “I was sitting in the back with all these guys that I watch on TV. Greg Jackson, Duke Roufus and all the Roufusport guys are back there. Cub Swanson. Clay Guida, I ran into a couple times. It was really surreal. I couldn’t believe I was back there with all these guys I watch on TV.”

Now Smolka is one of those guys on TV, and after a solid upset win in his UFC debut, in the company’s thinnest division, he will allow himself to daydream a little bit.

Smolka can see how he could rattle off a few wins and be right in the thick of the flyweight title picture.

“(John) Moraga got a title shot after two fights, but they were both finishes,” he said. “I think if I can finish three or four guys in a row, I would be considered for a title shot.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 35, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.