Louis Smolka

Scouting report

Louis Smolka, from Kapolei, Hawaii, is rated in the 2016 edition of this game with a 74 Overall built around scramble grappling and submissions from unusual angles, reflected in a 75 BJJ and 82 Cardio. Smolka put together a four-fight UFC stoppage streak that included finishes over Paddy Holohan and Ben Nguyen.

Peak ratings

Louis Smolka, the side kick that finished Richie Vaculik

Louis Smolka began his amateur career in 2010, winning the X-1 amateur 135 lb title, and turned professional in 2012 after nearly a year away. He won four fights in the PXC promotion and left as its flyweight champion. He signed with the Octagon in late 2013. In a draft he is a flyweight who scores with a mix of kicks and submissions.

What Smolka's card shows

Cardio at 82 supports his finishing rounds

Cardio is his best number at 82, and his wins show why. The Holohan fight was back and forth in round one before Smolka established top position midway through the second and choked him. The Vaculik win came late, in the third round. He also went the full fifteen minutes with Ray Borg, Tim Elliott and Matheus Nicolau.

Strength at 69 is the gap

Strength is the lowest rating at 69, and the losses lean that way. Ray Borg won a unanimous decision over him, and Brandon Moreno, Casey Kenney and Matt Schnell all finished him by submission. A physical flyweight can decide the exchanges.

Scouting report

Louis "Da Last Samurai" Smolka moved up from flyweight to bantamweight, where his submission-hunting style faced physically larger opponents. His ufc4-2020 bantamweight card carries a 73 Overall, with a 79 Boxing, 75 BJJ, and 82 Cardio.

Peak ratings

Louis Smolka at 135: a bantamweight second act

Smolka's first stretch with the promotion ended with his release around the turn of 2018. He re-signed on a four-fight contract in November of that year and came back at bantamweight, submitting Su Mudaerji with a second-round armbar. At 135 pounds his record was a swing between fast finishes and early exits. He beat Su Mudaerji, Ryan McDonald and Jose Alberto Quinonez, and he lost to Matt Schnell, Vince Morales and Davey Grant, among others. In a draft he is a bantamweight who can end a fight in one round when things break his way, but who can also be ended just as quickly.

Reading Smolka's bantamweight card

Cardio at 82 and a comeback finish over Quinonez

Cardio is the top number on his card at 82, and it is easy to read into his results. Quinonez seemed to have the better of the opening round in December 2020, and Smolka came back to take mount in the second and finish him by TKO. McDonald went in the first round, and Mudaerji tapped in the second, so his stoppages did not all come late. A high cardio number suits a submission hunter who needs rounds to find a position, and it means he is still dangerous when a fight has stretched past the opening minutes.

Strength at 70 and a chin that Morales and Grant tested

Strength is his lowest rating at 70, and it is the number that makes him a risky pick against a heavy hitter. Morales knocked him out in the first round in December 2021, and Grant knocked him out in round three in May 2022, his most recent bantamweight fight in the record. If the opponent is a bigger, harder puncher, the bantamweight version of Smolka gets one or two rounds to find a finish.