Smullen set for UFC debut in July
ARKLOW MMA fighter Richie Smullen is set to debut in his first fight in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) this July in Las Vegas against American Luis Pena.
Richie was a contestant on this season’s ‘The Ultimate Fighter 27: Undefeated’, a reality TV show produced by the UFC where eight undefeated featherweight fighters and eight undefeated lightweight fighters from around the world go head to head to secure a UFC contract.
The Arklow man was set to fight in a lightweight bout against Costa Rican fighter Allan Zuniga but unfortunately Richie suffered a horrific injury before the fight and couldn’t compete against Zuniga. Richie breaks down the injury he got on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’.
“I wasn’t feeling great on the day of the fight and the day before after the weigh-in I started to feel really bad, I knew something was right,” said the Arklow man.
“I suffered from a muscle injury called Rhabdomyolysis which is when your muscles break down and go into your blood stream and could have led to kidney failure.
“I still wanted to fight and I thought I would have been able to get through it but in the end I just couldn’t get in there and show everyone what I can do, which was the most frustrating thing, but I’m back to full health now and ready to go,” he added.
Competing on a show like ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ with the goal of achieving a contract with the UFC the most watched fighting competition in the world must be nerve racking with extreme pressure to perform when called upon but Richie takes the pressure in his stride and didn’t change his personality for the camera’s when he was on the show.
“What you seen on the show is the way I am, everyone that knows me knows that I’m not a loud person so I didn’t feel the need to fake a different personality for the show. Some guys in the show liked being on camera and doing interviews but that’s not me I just wanted to fight and express myself in the octagon”.
Richie was originally a team mate of Luis Pena at the beginning of the show as they were both fighting on Team Daniel Cormier who is currently the Light Heavyweight Champion, but being a former teammate of Pena doesn’t faze Smullen and is looking forward to competing against the American in his first UFC bout.
“It doesn’t bother me that we used to be team mates in ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ at the end of the day I’m team SBG (Straight Blast Gym) and I said that in the show, it really doesn’t bother me at all. In the evaluation round in December before entering the show I was paired up with Luis for the grappling round and now were fighting against each other in Las Vegas in the UFC so it’s funny how things work out”.
Some might suggest that being team mates in the show could be an disadvantage for both fighters in preparation for the fight as they would both know each other’s weaknesses and strengths but Richie believes that you can’t prepare for just one aspect of a fighters strength as anything can happen inside the octagon.
“Anything can happen in this sport, if you concentrate on just one of your opponent’s strengths then it can actually be a disadvantage because they could do something else on fight night, I’m going to be fully prepared come July 6 for whatever this man has to throw at me.
“I’m going to stick to what I’m good and work on my game plan, my game plan is always the same I’m going to walk forward and put the pressure on and make it a horrible fight for him.
“It’s my time to shine and I will be travelling home a few hours after the fight to get back to my daughter and girlfriend with my first win in the UFC ”.
Richie leaves on June 27 and fights Luis Pena in Las Vegas at the Pearl Theatre, Nevada on July 6 which will be available to watch on FS1 and on the UFC Fight Pass app.