MMA Sun 2014 Prospect Spotlight: The Flyweights – #10 – Louis Smolka

MMA Sun’s number 10 ranked flyweight prospect is Louis Smolka.  Smolka is the current PXC flyweight champion.  He is coming off of an impressive win over the very tough Ale Cali in November.  Smolka boasts an impressive 6-0 record thus far in his career.  Furthermore, he has finished every one of his opponents.  While 4 of his 6 opponents have a winning record, the real question for Smolka is how he would do against tougher competition.  PXC is a great place to test that to a certain extent, but I honestly do not see many people under their current roster who can threaten him.  I would be interested to see how Smolka would do against a top notch wrestler or someone with really good takedown defense.  He has a junior brown belt in kempo karate, and a brown belt in judo in addition to  two years of high school wrestling.  This shows that he has a background in a variety of martial arts.

Smolka threatens from all places, and has an impressive bottom game and a dangerous guard.  He has very quick transitions, he has a nice double leg takedown, he appears good in scramble situations, and he is more than willing to make use of elbow strikes while in the top position.  Smolka is one of the most aggressive fighters we have seen.  He may be a flyweight Joe Lauzon.  Sometimes that aggression gets him into some trouble.  While he has never lost, I have seen him get caught in chokes due to his aggression. I think some seasoning and age will fix that.  The more I watched Smolka, the more impressed I was.  You can see his improvements from one fight to another.

Fighting out of Hawaii alongside recent UFC signee Russell Doane, Smolka gets an opportunity to train with high level fighters.  Fighting under the PXC banner, winning the title in that division and being a familiar name to the Asian market certainly helps bolster Smolka’s resume and gets him on the UFC radar.  At just, 22 years old the fighter known as “Da Last Samurai” has plenty of room to improve and build upon his already high level skills.  Smolka is a big time prospect with a very high ceiling, perhaps as high of a ceiling as any flyweight we will feature.  Honestly, I would not be surprised if the UFC comes calling sooner than later.

 

Flyweights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Louis Smolka	Bantamweights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Featherweights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.	Lightweights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Welterweights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.	Middleweights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Light Heavyweights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.	Heavyweights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Women’s Bantamweight 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.	Women’s Strawweights 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.