Interview with Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion Ben Smith

Reflecting on an unbeaten 2009 with two titles in the bag, Ben Smith is relishing the opportunities that 2010 could bring. Sci-MX Nutrition caught up with Ben to see what his plans are for the coming year:

 

Sci-MX: Ben, you’re undefeated in your last four fights, three submissions and a stoppage. You must be feeling pretty positive about the coming year?

Ben Smith: Absolutely. I’ve just agreed a four fight deal with Ultimate Challenge, I’ve got a full year’s pro training under my belt and things are looking good.

 

Sci-MX: Let’s talk about Kiane Sabet. It looked like you beat him pretty comfortably back in September but he hasn’t gone away has he?

Ben Smith: No, he’s on the lookout for a rematch and I’m happy to fight him again if we can work out the details. My team don’t want me to take the fight because I’ve got nothing to gain, I’ve beaten him once already, but he’s making a lot of noise so I’m happy to do him again.
Sabet makes me laugh; he seems to live in a bit of a dream world. I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect from him at Ultimate Challenge Mayhem but I knew he’d be strong so I held back a bit. In hindsight I should have let him have both barrels when I got him to the floor but I took the arm when it was offered and tapped him out. He’s still saying that he should have beaten me, that a torn tricep put him at a disadvantage, but I’ve watched that fight back and he doesn’t seem to have a problem repeatedly grabbing the cage with his ‘injured’ right arm. Maybe if I’d given him a battering he might have stopped talking. If the rematch comes off I won’t be holding back.

 

Sci-MX: You followed that up with an impressive win over Wayne Weaver, again a submission.

Ben Smith: I have to say, Weaver impressed me with his ability to take punishment. For most of the first round I absolutely hammered him with punches, he ended up with a fractured cheek, eye socket, and broken nose. I’ve been told that Sky actually edited the fight footage because it looked too brutal. Despite that, he still came back at me in the second and landed a few strong knees. At that point I realised I could probably pound on him all night and he’d still be there at the end so I took the sub when it was available. I was more pleased with my performance in that fight than the Sabet fight; I’ll be looking to dish out that level of punishment in future.

Sci-MX: Your next fight looks set to be against Jamie Hearn at Ultimate Challenge Adrenalin Rush on March 27th. What do you think of Hearn?

Ben Smith: It’s still TBC but we’re pretty sure it’ll be Jamie Hearn. I think, naturally, he’s a light heavyweight but he’s making the step up to fight me at heavyweight. He’s an ex-boxer and he’s coming off the back of a KO win at the last Ultimate Challenge show so I imagine he’ll be looking to keep the fight upright and try to knock me out. I’ve been working hard on my ground fighting though so it should be an interesting one. I’m pretty confident.

 

Sci-MX: You mentioned that Jamie Hearn is stepping up in weight, but is it fair to say that you’re probably a natural light heavyweight yourself?

Ben Smith: That’s probably true. If I was six foot plus and built like I am then I’d be a heavyweight through-and-through but at 5’10’’ I could make the step down in weight quite easily. If you look at the heavyweight division just now that might be the smart move because there are guys like Karlos (Vemola) who I wouldn’t want to fight because we’re close friends. Maybe a move to light heavyweight could open some doors for me. Although I have a lot of power for my size and I can mix it with anyone, it’s always going to be more difficult for someone my size to handle the really huge guys. If the heavyweight division the UK was capped at 120 kgs like UFC then it would be better, but fighting someone like Stav (Economou), at 130kgs is going to be a handful for anyone!

 

Sci-MX: Looking at the next couple of years, what are your goals?

Ben Smith: I think, long-term, my future lies in Japan or America. The bottom line is that for more than a year, I’ve been paid to do something which I love and that’s what I want to continue doing. I’m signed to Ultimate Challenge for four more fights and I’m happy with that; UC is definitely the most professional and well-organised promotion in the UK. I’ve had the option to go to the States a couple of times but the shows would have been a step down from Ultimate Challenge. I think what we have with Ultimate Challenge in the UK is very credible and people in the US and Japan can see that, so I’m better off making a name for myself over here and taking the right fights overseas when they come up.

 

Sci-MX: Were there any culture shocks when you turned pro?

Ben Smith: I’ve learnt, or I should probably say re-learnt, more in the past year than I thought possible. I came from being a big fish at Semtex Gym, where I started training, to being the new boy at Titan and it’s been a steep learning curve. I used to be able to fall back on my strength and size before, as most of the guys I sparred with were lighter than me, but now I’m working with such skilled fighters that, bigger or smaller, they’ll tie me up in knots if I try that. You look at someone like Karlos and think he’s had over 600 wrestling fights and has been doing it since he was six years old, there’s a lot I can learn from someone like that. I’ve had to go right back to basics and fill in all the technique gaps that I used to plug with raw power. Other than that it’s all about the hours you put in as a pro. Before, when I was an amateur, I might be working 15 hours a day and trying to fit training in around work. Now, it’s 5 hours or more at the gym, with proper rest and nutrition. I’ve never done anything by half and you’d be a fool to do this for a living if you didn’t take it seriously. I fight to win and I’m prepared to make whatever sacrifices it takes to get to the top.

Ben Smith uses Sci-MX Nutrition’s Lean Grow Extreme, GRS-5 Protein System, Omni-MX, Creatine CT-MX, Tri-Omega EFA and Joint Support Complex
You can check out Ben’s profile at http://www.sci-mx.co.uk/pages/26859/Ben_Smith.htm