Former UFC fighter Louis Smolka has had his fair share of problems and troubles in his life. While he was once a top prospect in the UFC’s lightest men’s weight class, he has now had his UFC contract run out and has been allowed to leave the UFC. “Da Last Samurai” has now come out in the open and revealed that his career down slide happened due to a drinking problem.
Smolka was on a career high and was on a four fight win streak in the octagon. However, his career since hit a downward spiral and lost four fights on the trot. He was then released from the UFC and is now eyeing a strong return.
Smolka recently did an interview with MMA Junkie. In the interview, he revealed how his manager yelled at him and motivated him to get his career back on track. Here’s what he had to say:
He (his manager) kind of yelled at me, but he put it to me in a way I haven’t forgotten. He told me, ‘You have nothing to be celebrating right now.’ That really resonated with me. Because the truth is I had really messed my career up.
I took it for granted, if I was a kid working a desk job, it wouldn’t matter if I drank a bunch in my twenties. But as a professional athlete, you can’t live like that. You just can’t. Your body doesn’t function the same. If you’re training hungover all the time, it’s going to mess with you.
Back at my old gym, because we’re all friends, people would let you slide. If you’re hungover or whatever, it’s fine, they’ll let you slack. But over here, a new gym and new atmosphere, people don’t let you get away with that stuff. It’s like, you can show up hungover if you want, but they’re going to run you into the ground and beat you down.
This is odd, getting ready for a fight that’s not a UFC fight, it feels like a dark time in my career. Like I need to do this and get through it and never talk about it again.
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