VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Louis Smolka beat Ryan MacDonald with a first-round TKO Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN+ 16 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Take a look inside the fight with Smolka, who got back in the win column for his fifth victory in his past six fights.
Result: Louis Smolka def. Ryan MacDonald via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:43
Updated records: Smolka (16-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC), MacDonald (10-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC)
Key stat: Smolka has finishes in 14 of his 16 career wins – with an equal number of knockouts and submissions.
Smolka on the fight’s key moment
“It feels amazing to get the knockout. That might be the first standing TKO that I’ve done with my hands, so that felt amazing. I didn’t even feel it connect, honestly. I hit that left hook and it felt like it went right through his head. It felt amazing.”
Smolka on hitting something he practiced for
“That double straight left hook is something I’ve been doing all camp. It freezes the dude because it’s an unusual thing to see. I throw the double straight out there like a double jab and they just look at it because it’s an unusual angle and they look at it like, ‘What is that?’ And then I can swoop in with my left hook and cover a lot of distance when they’re frozen. I thought I might hit that and when I saw the opportunity, I just went for it. ”
Smolka on what he wants next
“I’d like to get back in there maybe before the end of the year. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll talk to my coaches and talk to the UFC and figure it out.”
To hear more from Smolka, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
