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by Jim Edwards



"My baby daughter is being a rascal and apparently, she's learned how to eat paper now--that's her new thing."



The new experiences that come with being a new parent is just one thing in life Louis Smolka is enjoying right now. Life both outside and inside of the Octagon is falling into place and his performance of the night performance in his latest fight against Ben Nguyen was his fourth win on the bounce.



"I feel pretty great right now I'm not going to lie," Smolka said with his usual laidback coolness. "I was so happy to get that win [over Ben Nguyen] and get the performance money for my daughter. I have zero complaints. Life is good, life is so great right now."



His own harshest critic

Despite being given a performance of the night bonus at UFC Fight Night Sioux Falls, Smolka has never been one to bask in his only glory and isn't one to buy into his own hype. While the UFC bosses believed his performance that night was worth $50,000, he revealed that on the night, he didn't feel like things were going as smoothly as they were.



"Honestly, if my opponent is still conscious and still fighting, I believe I'm losing," Smolka said. "That's just how I feel. If this dude is still swinging at me and still moving then I feel like I'm the one losing the fight. I have a hard time rating myself but yeah I guess if you look at things like stats you could say I did well but during the fight, I didn't think it was going as well as it did. I genuinely thought I was losing that fight the entire time."



"I've always found throughout my entire career, from amateur to a ranked UFC fighter, that I've always been in the mix for the performance of the night bonuses," he continued. "I think it's just because of my fighting style to be honest. I seek the finish always and I never let up. The bonuses just come somehow you know and I'm really proud of that."



Dreaming of taking Demetrious Johnson's Belt

With champions of other division changing at seemingly nearly every pay-per-view this year, Smolka finds himself in the rare situation where the champion of his division has been a mainstay for years - Demetrious Johnson.



While Johnson is a man Smolka respects no end, he doesn't buy into the fact that he's untouchable and said that he fantasises about being the main to topple him from the top.



"Sure it's great having a guy to aim at but in this game, things can change in an instant so there's no point just focusing on the one guy," Smolka said. "I admit I would love to be the guy that derails DJ and his Anderson Silva record-breaking streak or whatever.



"I would just love to be that guy who knocks him off the top, I love the storyline to it. I don't really know what to think about DJ to be honest. All I see when I look at him is that he's someone I have to beat."



Being overlooked by the UFC

If Smolka is to get his shot at Johnson, it would seem he is going to have to wait his turn given that the latest series of The Ultimate Fighter will determine who gets the next shot at the UFC flyweight title. Like many of the other flyweights in the division, Smolka isn't exactly happy with the situation.



"I feel totally overlooked, to be honest with you," Smolka said truthfully. "I feel like I should be in talks for the next title shot honestly and this whole thing just makes me feel overlooked. I don't know if they just want to build me up or whatever and I'm sure they have like a masterplan but with this situation, I do just feel really overlooked.



"To be honest I thought I was getting the Scoggins McCall winner or Wilson Reis but, of course, that like evaporated because of that happened this weekend."



Smolka was referring to the fact that the Scoggins versus McCall fight this past weekend was cancelled due to Scoggins not being able to make weight. Smolka didn't hold back his feelings on what transpired and didn't like the way Scoggins has been acting in the aftermath.



"Scoggins needs to like figure his life out dude," Smolka said. "The biggest insult to me is that his saying that its all Ian's fault because Ian doesn't want to fight him at 135lbs. He's the one that broke the contract, this fight is on you -- it's your fault.



"He's the one that needs to man-up and take it on the chin. Make the weight, do what you gotta do and just try being a professional. He said he could make the weight and he didn't do it. Cut and dry that is what it is, I'm baffled by his behaviour."



Dreaming of UFC Hawaii

While the actions of Scoggin's appear to have left Smolka in limbo for the near future, the man from Hawaii has big plans for the rest of the year and laid out his dream ending to 2016 in beyond for life inside and outside of the Octagon.



"I would love to pay off my house for my daughter and then buy a new one," Smolka said thoughtfully. "Of course, I want to fight again and I guess the dream would be to fight Demetrious in his hope town of Seattle, that would just be amazing. I know it's not likely but hey, I'm talking about my dreams here.



"I would also like to schedule an event, in Hawaii with myself Max and all the up and comers and old staples like Russell Doane, BJ, Brad [Tavares], Travis Browne, Yancy [Medeiros], like literally all of them that would just be insane. It would also have to be like a big-big event. Not just like UFC Fight Night but a massive event with multiple titles on the line. That's the dream, a huge card in Hawaii."