Louis Smolka expects to get back into the win column in a big way.
At UFC Vegas 14, Smolka is set to take on Jose Quinonez in a crucial fight for the Hawaiian. He is coming off a submission loss to Casey Kenney and since then spent the last couple of months putting on weight to get more acclimated to bantamweight.
Entering the scrap against Quinonez, Smolka knows closing the distance will be key as the Mexican has great footwork.
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“I will try and pressure him. He likes to move around a lot and spent some time with Dominick Cruz and might have adopted that style a little bit,” Smolka said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I feel like he might have a soccer background, just the way he moves, it looks like a soccer player. He is really light on his feet.”
If Louis Smolka can close the distance, he knows he will have a good night. The Hawaiian is confident in his grappling and power that he can land something big to KO Quinonez or submit him. However, he knows he can’t force a finish as it cost him in his last him.
“I would like to get a finish, that is always the goal but I am not trying to push it too hard. It is kind of tricky, my last fight I like overcommitted to the finish and I was really trying to get a quick finish,” Smolka explained. “That seems to be my pattern at 135, I was going out there and going for it. I just don’t want to fall into the routine of doing things the same way because it gets predictable as you don’t want people knowing what you are going to be doing. So, I might be smarter this fight. I have to see what he decides to do.”
Ultimately, Louis Smolka knows this fight is crucial for his UFC career. He has been released once and knows losing two in a row is never good. However, he remains confident he will be too much for Quinonez.
“It is pretty important. I never want to lose, I put a lot of pressure on myself. I’m just trying to take it as it comes,” Smolka concluded. “I work really hard for this and I’m confident heading into this. I’ve added some new wrinkles in my game and I think I’ll be too much for him.”
Who do you think will win, Louis Smolka or Jose Quinonez?