Scott Smith was easy to spot – I was 2 blocks behind him on my way to the interview when I picked his smooth gait out of a crowd of desk jockeys on their way to lunch. Little did the suits know that this guy just won a hell of a fight. We sat down while Scott had a massive post-workout meal, and I got an engaging tour of his MMA life. Less than a month out from his win over Cung Le, Smith was focused, down to earth, back to work and clear on what he needs to do next.

How does it feel to be the first MMA fighter to defeat Cung Le (December 19, 2009, Strikeforce Evolution)?
It’s awesome, I felt that it was one of my biggest fights; it’s bigger than a title fight for me. You could have put me against Jake Shields and I could have won the belt, but it wouldn’t have been as big as beating Cung Le.

What was it like being the underdog in that fight?
I love being the underdog in fights. I have nothing to lose. He’s the one who is the favorite. He’s the one who has to protect his record. When I’m not the underdog, I’m way more nervous. I’ve been the underdog in most of my fights, and I like that position… that’s how I win my fights.

Did you have a mental strategy in the Cung Le fight? When he was dominating, was there anything that clicked “ON” for you?
A sense of urgency. I need to start having that sense of urgency in the first round and not the third. I go in there and I’m getting hurt, but it’s not really bothering me. It’s a terrible strategy to have. Getting beat up, and beat up, and later in the fight say, “ok it’s time”. I need to go out there in the first round and be kind of pissed off, which I don’t. I never go into fights angry. I need to go in there with a sense of urgency like I’m already losing the fight.

When you were on the “Ultimate Fighter: The Comeback”, during the season finale, you got punched in the liver, and then managed to knock out Pete Sell. How did you experience a sense of urgency in that fight?
That was more of a sense of urgency. I was actually winning that fight late in the second round; it was a great fight. We ended up getting fight of the night. He hit me with a liver shot; it was the worst shot I’ve ever taken. I got hit and tried to play it off like it didn’t hurt. I backed up, but my body just collapsed on me. He came on to me and I honestly had one punch left so I threw it, caught him right on the chin, and dropped him. I even fell on him trying to finish him off but I couldn’t even throw a punch. That was the biggest sense of urgency I’ve ever had.

Your coach Ganyao is known as “Dr. Knees” but you didn’t throw any knees or kicks at Cung Le, why?
I threw a few a kicks, but the Muay Thai style doesn’t actually match up well with San Shou. Cung Le is a great wrestler. I didn’t want to be throwing those kicks out there and expose myself to a takedown. I needed to make it a dirty boxing match, not a kickboxing match. If it’s a kickboxing match, he’s going to win. I need to make it just hands, and not feet. Ganyao was actually just giving me crap about it today.

What is your mind set when going into a fight?
The week of the fight I like to get to where the fight is as soon as possible, so I can just focus. If I’m cutting weight, it’s easier to cut weight when I’m out of town. I like it if my friends are there; I go to movies, I go bowling. If I’m home, I have people over. I have a good time. You can’t sit there and be nervous because the fight is going to happen in five days, like it or not. All the hard work has been done already, so I have to relax and have a mini vacation.

You live in the Sacramento area, but you train in San Francisco quite frequently. How do you manage your training schedule?
Yes, in Sacramento I do pure boxing, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu. I have a gym in the Sacramento area, where I live, and I drive up here (to San Francisco) and do my Muay-Thai. James Irvin, another UFC fighter and I, are co-owners of the Ultimate Training Center. I do my core conditioning there with the manager of the gym Rudy Baptista; he’s a great core conditioning coach. Down the street from that, I do my kickboxing with Eric Regan in a different gym, actually. I train with him for pure boxing.

What areas of your game are you most working to enhance?
My wresting is what got me into MMA. I wrestled in Junior college and did really well. I took 4th place in state, and then got into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I competed a bit in Jiu-Jitsu, and my instructor was training MMA, so I did it, and became a big fan. All of a sudden I was 7-0, and from then on it just took off for me. Most of my early wins were by TKO, and considered knockouts, but that’s because I took people down and finished with ground and pound. I didn’t make a name for myself until three and a half years ago, actually, about four years ago, I fought in the WEC Light Heavyweight Tournament which I won, with two KOs. I came back and defended the belt with another KO. That was the first time I fought on television. They were big KOs, and the promoter at that time, Scott Adams felt that I needed a nickname. I was an iron worker because of my family’s business; they’re iron workers. So the name “Hands of Steel” came up after I got those KOs. That’s about the time I started training Muay-Thai, and really fell in love with it. I prefer to stand up and box, but I also want to get back to my roots, with the wrestling, because people think I can only stand up and box.

Is there anything you want to bring back into your training?
I want to get back to more Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. These last couple of years it’s been more Jiu-Jitsu defense for me; I would like to get back to the aggressive offensive side of it. Strike Force is really good at match making, so I always have to be ready, and have something to fall back on.

What’s next? Where would you like to take your fighting?
I’m happy where I’m at with Strikeforce. I’m 3 and 1, they just gave me a six fight extension. They give me great fights and I just want that to continue.

Your brother, Shawn Smith, just had his pro-fighting debut on December 12, 2009, at the Gladiator Challenge at Red Hawk Casino. He won by TKO in the first round. What was it like for you to watch your brother fight?
My brother’s fight went great! The guy tried to take him down and my brother was too strong. My brother ended up on top and pounded away with punches and elbows to get the TKO win in just 33 seconds. I’m not going to lie. It’s hard to watch family or a good friend fight. It’s hard because you can’t jump in and help them. If they are in a tough spot you can’t do anything for them, you just watch and wish it were you and not them. But as long as my brother continues to train hard, I will totally support him!

What’s it like being a dad with your fighting career?
I have two boys that I am very involved with. I have 50/50 custody of them. My training revolves around my kids. I drop them off at school at 7:30 in the morning, drive to San Francisco, work out, and get back in time to pick them up from school. I coach my kids in wrestling too, at junior high level, and it’s my second year coaching there. My oldest is in seventh grade, and it’s his second year wrestling. The other is a first grader, and it’s his first year wrestling. Even the weeks I don’t have them, I still see them every day in wrestling. I spend all day Saturdays in tournaments, literally from 5:30 in the morning until 8 at night. It takes a lot of my time, and I love it. The kids are great and they love MMA. When my friends come over to hang out, they are hanging out with my kids too. My six year old is the biggest MMA critic in the world. He called me after the Cung Le fight on the phone and said, “Good job in the fight, you won… but you almost got knocked out!” Yeah but I won… “I know but you almost got knocked out.” He’s really funny. They were there during my big Benji Radach fight, and came into the cage. Sharing that experience with my kids was a big deal for me. It’s a little nerve racking just having the kids at a fight because they don’t understand what I have going on. I’m still just dad to them, and I need to be there for them all the time. I don’t like having them there knowing I’m not totally committed to being with them, unless someone else takes them to the fight and watches out for them.

How does fighting prepare you for life, and how does life prepare you for a fight?
Fighting is a martial art. The discipline it takes to be a mixed martial artist, things I use every day in my training, I also use in my everyday life. MMA is my life! I’ve always said I have the best family in the world, and my family has been my life since before MMA. I have a great support system with the way I was bought up; great parents, great sister and my kids. Family is my life and MMA is my life, they are intertwined and it works.

Where do you think MMA is going to go in next five years, in terms of fight style?
MMA is like a roller coaster in terms of what dominates it. First it was Jiu-Jitsu, then it was the wrestlers who could out do the Jiu-Jitsu guys, then you got the strikers like Chuck Liddell who also had the wrestling skills. I think it goes in waves, depending on who the champion is, and who comes in to fight the champion. Chuck Liddell was untouchable for years, so you had to get someone who could outbox him, and then you have a boxer as the champion. Then you have to get a wrestler to come in and dominate him, and then you’ve got a wrestler as the champion, then you have to get a Jiu-Jitsu guy to come in and submit him because he’s going to his back anyway. It just goes in waves, depending on who the champion is.

Who is next for you, who would you like to fight next?
I’m not asking for any names, it’s going to be a tough fight. It’s so stacked out there at Strikeforce at 185, I’ve just got to be prepared. I don’t want easy fights, and I’m not going to ask for one. We were talking about Benji Raddick, a rematch needs to happen down the road, but I don’t think it needs to happen right now. His last fight was a loss to me, so I’d like to see us both get a couple wins and then I’ll give him the respect of the rematch.

Is there anyone you would like to thank in your latest victory over Cung Le?
Yeah, I definitely want to give a shout to Jenna Castillo for helping me train. A lot of people ask how you prepare for a fight against Cung Le. It’s hard. It’s really tough to find somebody who understands his style. Ganyao is great at Muay Thai, but it’s not the same style as San Shou. Same with my kickboxing coach, Eric Regan. He knows Cung Le really well, but he doesn’t fight like him. Jenna is a 5 foot tall female fighter, and she was the best sparring partner I had in preparing me for this. I’d be on defense, and she really helped me understand what I’d be up against. I’d like to thank her, along with my other trainers.
Thanks to Ganyao at Fairtex, Eric Regan, Rudy Baptista, and all the guys at Ultimate Training Center. www.ultimatetrainingctr.com

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