With experience on his side, Chris Camozzi eyes second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 109

STOCKHOLM – Chris Camozzi is only 30, but his 36-fight, 11-year-long MMA career shows he’s got a plethora of experience.

Camozzi (24-12 MMA, 9-9 UFC) faces Trevor Smith (14-7 MMA, 4-4 UFC) at this Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 109 in what will be the seventh fight of his third UFC tenure. And while it hasn’t been all positive – his second octagon run, for instance, ended on a four-fight skid – the middleweight wouldn’t change his busy path.

“I think the experience goes a long way,” Camozzi told MMAjunkie. “You know when you’re younger and people always say, ‘Watch out for the wiser, more experienced people in anything.’ Whether it’s work or anything, you’re young and you’re always like. ‘That doesn’t matter. I’m badass at this, that.’ It does matter.

“The further I get into this, the further I realize experience plays a big part with fighting and with life. For me, I’ve got a ton of experience and I’m still young. And it definitely plays a factor in my career now. So I wouldn’t change anything.”

Camozzi, who was originally scheduled to face Sweden’s Magnus Cedenblad at Stockholm’s Ericsson Globe, now meets Smith in an FS1-televised preliminary card middleweight bout. The main card also airs on FS1, with early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Both fighters head into Sunday’s scrap on a losing note. While Camozzi looks to recover from a two-fight skid – a submission loss to grappling ace Thales Leites followed by a decision setback to judoka Daniel Kelly  – Smith had a two-win streak snapped by Andrew Sanchez last December.

Speaking to MMAjunkie about the matchup, Smith said he believed an octagon meeting with Camozzi was bound to happen at some point. As it turns out, Camozzi mirrors the sentiment.

“We’ve seen each other around forever,” Camozzi said. “I think he was even on the fight card that my brother (Brian Camozzi) fought on last (UFC Fight Night 102). I saw him there and I was like, ‘I could end up fighting him.’ It went through my head even the last time I saw him.

“So, it’s always seemed like that, and I guess it’s good it lined up here. We’re the only two Americans fighting each other on this card, so we’ve got to put it on for Sweden.”

While some fighters are shy about offering exact predictions of how their scraps are going to play out, Camozzi didn’t hesitate when asked for his.

“Second-round TKO,” Camozzi said.

To hear more from Camozzi on Smith, fighting in Europe and being joined by his younger brother in the UFC, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 109, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.