Smith: I Can’t Afford to Lose

Scott Smith (right) knows his bout with Tarec Saffiedine is a must-win situation. | Photo: Dave Mandel

“This is a must-win for me,” Smith said during a “Savage Dog Show” interview on the Sherdog Radio Network. “I can’t afford to lose this fight.”

Smith is perhaps best known for his stunning come-from-behind victories against opponents like Pete Sell, Benji Radach and Cung Le. Against Saffiedine, though, he’s looking for a comeback of a different sort. He’s lost back-to-back fights via knockout and knows a win is needed to get back on track.

“I just know I’ve got to get the job done,” Smith said. “It does put a little pressure on me, but I think that’s a good thing too. I’m going to have to go out there and fight to win and be hungry, and that’s when I fight my best.”

Don’t confuse “fight to win” with Smith changing to a conservative approach, however.

“If I fight that way, I’m losing the fight for sure,” he said. “If this fight goes the distance, there’s a better chance I’m not going to win the fight. I need to end the fight.”

To finish, Smith could use a wider variety of skills than he’s shown lately. He’s had roughly seven months since his loss to Paul Daley to heal his injuries and refocus his training. In that time he’s rediscovered his passion for grappling.

“I’m definitely getting back to my roots with the wrestling and jiu-jitsu and I’ve fallen back in love with it,” he said. “But … my fighting style, I fight that way because I enjoy [it]. In the Cung Le fight and even the Benji Radach fight, I was injured on my feet to where if I had the confidence in my ground game, I definitely would have tried to take them down. I hadn’t had that confidence in a while and I do have that confidence now. I feel with this fight, I’m going to determine where the fight is. If I like how it’s going on my feet, I’m going to keep it on the feet. That’s where I prefer to keep it. If he’s beating me up on my feet, well, I feel I’m the better wrestler and I can take it down if I need to.”

With that said, expect Smith to still be trying to knock out Saffiedine.

“I see the fight maybe going midway through the second, a knockout,” he said. “I’m always looking for the knockout. Like I said, I’ve been working on my wrestling and jiu-jitsu, but first and foremost, I go out there looking for the knockout.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 1:04:04).