England’s Davey Grant is no stranger to exciting fights, and his outing on Saturday was another addition to his ever-growing list of back-and-forth battles.
At UFC on ESPN 36, Louis Smolka took everything Grant (12-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC) could dish out in a one-sided first round and rebounded nicely in the second. However, Grant’s pressure and volume finally became too much for Smolka (17-9 MMA, 8-9 UFC) and the fight ended viciously in the third with a clean knockout. It was an incredible fight, but Grant hopes to have cleaner performances going forward.
“I expect a war, and anything less is just a bonus,” Grant said during the post-fight news conference. “So, I always go in there expecting a war, but I’m always trying to knock ’em out early. You don’t get paid for overtime and I just want to try and get quick finishes. I’m not here to try and get Fight of the Nights, I want Performance of the Nights. I want quick knockouts, but I’ll take whatever I can get.”
Grant’s stoppage win of Smolka snapped a two-fight skid of losses to Marlon Vera and Adrian Yanez. Prior to the setbacks, he racked up three straight, defeating Grigorii Popov, Martin Day, and Jonathan Martinez. His previous four bouts all took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The promotion is returning to Grant’s home soil for a Fight Night event at The O2 on July 23, and he would not be opposed to being added to the lineup to fight in front of a larger audience.
“It’s always great to go fight in London,” Grant said. “It’s the capitol and it’s been a long time since I fought there and I’ve been sort of getting a good reputation now. I seem to be putting on some really good fights.
So yeah, it would be fantastic to fight in front of a crowd again. I like the Apex cards as well, I’m happy to fight anyone, anywhere honestly. Don’t even have to tell me who, tell me where and I’ll turn up.”
Davey Grant wouldn’t mind a quick turnaround to fight at UFC’s return to London in July
