Israeli mixed martial arts fighter Shimon Smotritsky secured another victory at the 559 Fights 120 event in Porterville, California, on Friday, bringing his win-loss record up to 12-5.
Smotritsky’s victory, which was delivered as a unanimous decision by the judges after three five-minute rounds, came after he suffered three consecutive losses. Additionally, the bout was a catchweight at 180 pounds, meaning Smotritsky, who normally fights at 170 pounds, had to put on pounds to make the weight.
In contrast, his American opponent, James Porter, who at 31 is six years Smotritsky’s senior, last fought in a light heavyweight bout, where he weighed in at over 200 pounds.
The first round of the fight opens with a leg kick from Porter. The two immediately let loose an exchange of front kicks and punches. These were interspersed by feints as the two sized one another up, trying to find an opening to deliver a decisive strike.
Speaking days later to The Jerusalem Post, Smotritsky laments that his preparation ahead of the fight wasn’t as thorough as he would have liked.
“I didn’t have too much time to prepare. I had something like four or five weeks,” he says, adding, “In the first couple of days of training, I got hurt and dealt with a serious back injury. I couldn’t wrestle, I couldn’t grapple.”
He says that at one point in training, he even got sick.
“But I didn’t want to lose out on this fight. I wanted to get back to the win column, so I took this fight, and I believed in myself, and I said, ‘No matter what, I’m going to do my best.’”
Two minutes into the round, neither had landed a critical shot when Porter fired off a powerful right hand. Smotritsky shoots down beneath it and takes Porter down. For the remaining three minutes of the round, the Israeli keeps Porter pressed against the Octagon cage, maintaining control.
The second round quickly became much like how the first ended. A few seconds in, Porter tries a wheel kick, but Smotritsky sees it coming and shoots in, grabbing Porter’s back and taking him to the mat.
From within Porter’s guard, Smotritsky lands a few close shots as the two grapple. Porter tries to escape, but Smotritsky gets on his back and the two return to the mat.
Smotritsky, who bears the moniker “the assassin,” looks to end the fight with a rear choke, and even seems to get his elbow under the American’s chin. Porter, however, proves himself up to the challenge and slips out of it. He even almost manages to get out of Smotritsky’s hold, but Smotritsky gets him back in a full body lock and again attempts to choke Porter out.
Again, Porter escapes, and this time succeeds in extricating himself. The two stand, squaring up against each other once again.
“He defended the choke really well. And he has a lot of experience. He’s a skilled fighter,” Smotritsky later said. “Porter’s conditioning impressed me a lot, because the guy kept scrambling even though he was tired and choked out.”
The two exchange sporadic punches, trading control of the center of the Octagon before the round concludes with both fighters still on their feet.
Going into the third round, Smotritsky, while thus far unable to conclusively end the fight, is clearly up in the scoring.
“My corner had told me to keep doing what I was doing. ‘Whenever you want, take him down.’ And they encouraged me to try and finish the fight,” Smotritsky said.
The two exchange punches and kicks for the first minute and ten seconds, and Porter launches a right hand at Smotritsky’s face, forcing him back. He tries it again, but the assassin is ready for it. Again, Smotritsky shoots in under the attack, grabbing Porter’s hip and thighs, and taking him back down to the mat.
This time, though, it's not long before Porter escapes and the two are on their feet again. A right hand from Porter clips Smotritsky on the chin, but doesn’t do much to stun him.
Seconds later, a jab from Smotritsky provides cover for a right hand that returns the favor, catching Porter on the left side of the face.
After a couple of kicks, the Israeli proceeds to shoot in again, again putting Porter on his back. He then improves his position, and with less than two minutes left in the fight, he had himself positioned on top of Porter’s hips, above his guard.
Porter tries to buck him off, but Smotritsky manages to keep his position. Smotritsky slips in a few elbows but chooses overall to maintain control rather than attempt a dramatic knockout.
In the last thirty seconds, in an attempt by Porter to get back on his feet, Smotritsky gets around and on top of Porter's back and aims a series of punches and elbows down on Porter’s face. In the last ten seconds, Smotritsky unleashes a last flurry of punches, and the fight comes to an end.
“My strategy going into this fight was just to be myself,” he says. “In the past, I didn't always fight like I wanted to. I fought to entertain people.” He explains that he has often fought in such a way as to give people a good show, and after three fights that didn’t go his way, felt he was too limited by that approach.
“So in this fight I used all my skills in the striking, the wrestling, the grappling. I dominated in all areas. And when I fight like myself, freely, and without trying to entertain someone or try to hype the crowd up and do all this nonsense, I’m the best version of myself, and I’m winning against anybody.”
Post-fight drama
After the bell sounded at the end of the last round, both fighters’ corners entered the Octagon. As Smotritsky walks by, Porter’s coach says something to him that triggers a look of puzzlement on Smotritsky’s face.
“One of [Porter’s] coaches looked at me and told me ‘you're a fucking shitty fighter,’” Smotritsky recounts. “I thought that I didn’t hear it right, so I asked him, ‘What did you say?’ And he told me, ‘You are fucking garbage.’”
Smotritsky admits that “in the heat of the moment,” they exchanged some harsh words, and he gestured at the coach with both middle fingers.
“I grew up on martial arts values, and I believe more than anything in sportsmanship and in respecting your opponent,” he said. “My opponent was a real gentleman. He shook my hand and everything, but unfortunately, his coach wasn't the same.”
Nevertheless, moments later, the judges rendered the decision and, despite some booing from the crowd, Smotritsky wore his Star of David necklace and held up the Israeli flag in triumph.
“There was a lot of pressure coming off a three-fight losing streak,” Smotritsky recounted. He said that he felt his last fight was ruled against him, even though he felt he should have won it. “But I dominated him for three rounds. There wasn’t a second when I was in danger, and they couldn’t steal this win from me this time.”