It’s really the only way to do it if you’re going to go in an Octagon and punch somebody in the face while they’re trying to do the same thing to you. This game is hard enough as it is. You can’t take the loss back, so why not just fix the mistakes and move forward?
That’s just what the fighting pride of Squamish, BC, did, and while it’s approaching a year since his fight with Johns, Smith wasn’t about to rush his return while the world turned upside down thanks to COVID-19’s arrival earlier this year.
“I needed a full camp,” Smith said. “I lost the last one, so you kinda want to get a full camp for the next one. Also, going out to Fight Island on two weeks’ notice, being from Canada makes things kind of tough. You gotta go to Vegas, then to the Middle East, and fighting at 3am. If I was further along in my UFC career and I was a total established fighter, then sign me up, I would have loved to do that. But just being so early in your career, you’ve got to make the right decisions.”
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Would the 21-year-old Smith have jumped on the plane to Abu Dhabi?
“For sure,” he laughs. “Especially if you’re getting your first offer, than yeah, of course. It would have been a cool experience.”
