That Smolka went on to lose a split decision to Borg did nothing to improve the Hawaiian’s mood. Emotions raged within “Da Last Samurai.”
“After the last fight, I was more angry than depressed,” Smolka told Sherdog.com. “People have no idea how sick I was going into that fight. I really don’t know what I had, but it must have been food poisoning or a virus or something. We got in on Sunday, and I slept until Monday. The entire week of the fight I didn’t even workout. I just lay in bed. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t really do anything, you know?”
Yet Smolka was frustrated with more than just his own ailments in December. Borg’s failure to tip the scales within the flyweight limit left a bad taste in his mouth.
“Even though I was in that situation, I sucked it up and I still ended up cutting about 10 pounds of water,” Smolka said. “Then, when Borg decided not to cut weight just because he didn’t want to do it, I felt very disrespected. I knew he had come in at 135 on the fight week. He’s not the biggest flyweight, so I know he can make the weight pretty easily. For him to miss weight, I felt like he was scared. He didn’t think he had a shot [at winning] if he had done it fairly and cut the weight. Meanwhile, I can barely move and I still made it.
“I really feel like he did it on purpose,” he added. “When I saw him on fight night, he was in great shape. He wasn’t chubby or anything. He didn’t look like a guy who had trouble hitting the mark. If we ever meet again, I’ll feed off him missing that weight. I know he did it out of fear, and knowing that is a big advantage if we ever get the rematch.”
While Smolka likes his chances if he meets Borg again, he can reinvigorate his flyweight title hopes when he faces Tim Elliott at UFC on Fox 24 this Saturday at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The 25-year-old jumped at the chance to take on Elliott, who won Season 24 of “The Ultimate Fighter” and then gave Johnson a run for his money at the finale. Smolka believes much can be gained by beating Elliott in his hometown.
“I was so grateful when they offered this to me,” he said. “I actually couldn’t believe it when they offered me Tim. I really didn’t think they’d throw me back in there against a guy who had just fought for the title, but I accepted it immediately. We’re fighting in his hometown, so this fight is for him to win. UFC [matchmakers] are still giving me the opportunity to take him out, though, and I’m grateful for that opportunity. I know I can beat him. The fact that it’s in his backyard was a selling point for me.
“If I manage to beat Tim Elliott now, after him getting all of the hype from his performance against D.J., I think that would be a huge win for me,” Smolka added. “It would be a great feather in my cap. I think the fight will be amazing. If people don’t love me before this fight, they’re going to love me after it. I think he’s the perfect opponent for me to put on a show against. He’s got a wild style and so do I. I don’t expect anybody to be disappointed with our fight.”
After his missteps against Moreno and Borg, Smolka has made finding humility in the midst of success a priority.
“Ever since that Brandon Moreno fight, I’ve been trying to pull back on my confidence. I think I’ve got to reel it back in,” he said. “After the Neil Seery fight [at UFC 189], it kind of opened my eyes to what I was capable of. It just kind of felt like the wins snowballed after that, and I thought I was going to be the man. This isn’t even the first time I’ve had to check myself. This is the second time I’ve had to kind of stop myself like this.
“After the [Alptekin] Ozkilic fight [in January 2014], just before I fought Chris Cariaso, I got a bunch of hype,” Smolka added. “I can remember Kenny Florian wrote an article about me, and everybody was talking about me. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to be the next Jon Jones.’ I thought I was the s--- and then I [expletive] up the next fight, and I was like ‘What is wrong me?’”
Focused on the task at hand, Smolka believes he could find his way back into the conversation at 125 pounds sooner rather than later. It all starts with Elliott.
“My manager thinks I’m going to be back in title contention by the end of the year,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t really mind what he tells me, but I guess that’s a good target. Two more wins and I’ll probably be back in the mix. A win over Tim, a guy who gave D.J. a good fight, would probably be huge for me.”