UNCASVILLE, Conn – Leslie Smith returns to action at Bellator 241 on Friday after being served with a sharp reminder of one of MMA’s age-old mantras: “Never leave it in the hands of the judges.”
Smith lost a unanimous decision against Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 233 last time out, and admitted that she had become just a little too comfortable being in a fistfight, rather than going hard for the stoppage.
“It’s a reminder to never leave it to the judges – frickin’ judges!” she sighed. “I know it. Everyone knows you can’t leave to the judges. But it’s easy to forget that sometimes, especially if you’re like me and you’re just having a really good time fighting and having fun punching people in the face. It reminds me that I need to really focus on the finish, so that’s what I’m going to do in this fight.”
Smith (11-8-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) takes on Jessy Miele (9-3 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) in a featherweight bout at Mohegan Sun Arena. The event takes place Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie. And, after watching tape of her opponent’s recent performances, Smith said she’s looking forward to facing a fighter with a fighting style she believes will mesh well with her own.
“I think that she’s a very well-rounded fighter, and I’m excited to see that it looks like she comes forward, and I think she’s going to bring out a very good and exciting fight,” Smith said. “I’m looking forward to that.”
“I’m ready for everything. In (her) last fight I saw she had a lot of confidence in the striking. … I’m excited about fighting people that have a lot of confidence in the striking because I just love to punch people in the face. It’s a lot easier to punch someone in the face when they’re trying to punch you in the face at the same time, so that’s where I know that I shine the most. I’m ready for any place else that it might end up, and we’ll see.”
Victory could potentially push Smith towards her goal of a title fight with newly-crowned 145-pound champion Cris Cyborg, though she admitted that she isn’t concerning herself with that possibility as she focuses on the job at hand.
“I have no idea (if I’ll be next); it’s not really anything that’s in my control,” Smith said. “That is always the hot question, ‘If you win this, are you going to get a title fight?’ or ‘How far away from a title fight are you?’ Well, I’ve been hearing ‘title fight’ since I signed for the division. I don’t write the contracts, I just sign them, so all I can do is win the fight and then we’ll see what comes up.”
Leslie Smith plans to 'focus on the finish' ahead of Bellator 241 return
