Flyweight prospect Louis Smolka impressed against Dublin veteran Neil Seery, using a slick ground game to sail to a three-round unanimous decision win.
All three judges saw it 30-27 for Kapolei’s Smolka, now 9-1; Seery falls to 15-11.
Seery had success with the overhand right whenever Smolka got close in the early going, and with less than a minute gone, one of those rights put the Hawaiian on the deck. In the ensuing scrambles, Seery got cut under the right eye, but the Irishman responded by fishing for submissions. Eventually though, it was Smolka who took over with a tight guillotine choke. Seery weathered the storm, but there was more coming from Smolka, who then attempted a D’arce choke. Again, Seery got free and made it to the end of the round.
Flashy moves by Hawaiian flyweight @LastSamuraiUFC #UFC189 prelims live on @UFCFightPass http://t.co/1k7fW7Qiiy
— #UFC189 (@ufc) July 11, 2015
The exciting grappling exchanges continued in the second round, Smolka winning the control battle but Seery staying busy with strikes and the occasional submission attempt. Smolka kept looking for Seery’s neck, the Dubliner fighting off each serious finishing try.
After trying to protect his neck for the previous two rounds, Seery nearly locked up a choke on Smolka in the third minute of the final round, but after the Hawaiian found an escape, he went back to work on Seery. “2 Tap” wouldn’t back down under the pressure, going for another guillotine, yet Smolka kept getting free and bouncing back with even more attempts of his own, nearly finishing matters with an arm triangle choke just before the final horn.
