St. Charles flyweight Alptekin Ozkilic had his four-fight winning streak ended by Louis Smolka on Wednesday afternoon in Duluth, Ga.
Smolka, putting his 3 1/2-inch reach advantage to good use, won the three-round bout by a unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 29-28.
As the decision was being announced, Ozkilic raised an arm triumphantly, but when Smolka was declared the winner, Ozkilic did not seem surprised. The loss was his second in 11 pro fights.
Smolka staggered Ozkilic in the first round, pounded him with knees to the body in the second and ended the fight by getting Ozkilic on his back and punching away at his face.
Ozkilic got in his share of shots, too, and appeared to win the first round even though he was wobbled briefly after absorbing an early left hook from Smolka. But Ozkilic, fighting on short notice for the second time in a month, appeared to tire against his taller opponent in the second round.
Smolka used precision punching and body kicks to wear down Ozkilic in the last two rounds. Ozkilic was able to use his wrestling background to take down Smolka on numerous occasions in the 15-minute fight, but the 22-year-old Hawaiian was able to escape each time without much damage.
Smolka, in his UFC debut, improved to 7-0 as an MMA professional. The fight was on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 35.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @stanmcneal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
