“I gave up drinking completely,” he said. “I had to not do it anymore. And honestly, I’ve never felt better. I’m hoping that it shows in this fight.”
This fight will see Smolka making his first UFC start at bantamweight, and while he was dangerous everywhere during his initial run in the Octagon, he may be more so the second time around.
“I’m a big guy for flyweight, and just cutting down to that 125 level, I was skin and bones,” he said. “That was as low as I could physically go and I feel like I gave up a lot of muscle to do those cuts. I feel like it really affected my ability to explode and be quick. It’s like my fast-twitch was messed up.”
That’s all in the past, and no words are sweeter to Smolka, who compiled three wins in 2018 to earn his return call to the UFC. And with each passing victory, he believed more and more that his only home was in the big show.
“The first two fights I was trying to get my confidence back and my bearings back, trying to get myself together,” Smolka said. “And then my last fight, I was hungry to come back by that point. I had my confidence back, so I was like, ‘All right, what else do I need to do to get back to the UFC? What else do you guys need? I’m ready to go.’”
That two-round stoppage of Kyle Estrada in October was his ticket back. Now all he has to do is win on Saturday.
“I’m expecting myself to work hard and take this serious and to try and win as many as I can,” he said. “135 is a deep division and I’m just gonna try and do my best and win fights and prove that I belong here, competing with the best in the world.”
But will those tears come this weekend?
“Maybe, I don’t know,” he laughs.
