Cameron Smotherman stepped in on less than a week’s notice at UFC Atlanta, facing off with Ricky Simon in place of Charles Jourdain.
With Jourdain injured, it was Smotherman facing a bantamweight who had fought a who’s who at 135lbs, including Merab Dvalishvili, Urijah Faber, Raphael Assuncao, and Song Yadong.
Simon opened the preliminary card fight with a leg kick, while Smotherman kept his guard high. Moments later, it was Simon in on a leg, working a takedown. He eventually landed that, with style points, hoisting Smotherman up and slamming him down. Smotherman looked to get to the fence, but Simon was all over him, threading his own leg under his opponent’s. A blatant fence grab followed, drawing a warning from the ref. Simon began working on a crank, and briefly controlled the back before returning to more of a three-quarter position. Regardless, halfway through the round, Simon was clearly in the driver’s seat. Later in the round, Simon was on top, working a straight arm-bar. He then stepped across Smotherman, then mounted him, though Simon couldn’t put the fight away prior to round’s end.
Round two saw Simon get the fight down within the opening 90 seconds, planting an outmatched Smotherman on his back well away from the fence. Smotherman looked, in a word, miserable. Simon was in half-guard, with the opportunity to slice his leg through or perhaps move into side control. Smotherman would get up with two minutes still remaining in the second, but Simon still had a body lock. They’d wrap up the round on the feet, trading, but heading into round three, Ricky Simon was comfortably ahead.
Simon was in on a takedown attempt early in the third; this time, Smotherman was able to stay standing. That allowed him to draw Simon into a standup battle, firing a knee and forcing Simon into a weak takedown attempt that failed. Still, Simon landed a combination of his own shortly after, before changing levels for still another takedown attempt. Smotherman answered that with a choke attempt, though Simon was quickly out of danger. Instead, with 90 seconds to go, he came off the fence with a punch then walked down Simon.
Too little, too late. They headed to the scorecards with Simon comfortably ahead.
Official Result: Ricky Simon def. Cameron Smotherman by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
