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Ben Smith: 'If the MMA career don’t work out for him, he can always be a gigolo or a comedian'
20 Mar 2010
By Jim Page
Muscular grappling specialist ‘Big’ Ben Smith has been on a tear on recent months, blasting away his last four opponents inside the distance. The incredibly powerful former bodybuilder is now poised to face Jamie ‘The Wang’ Hearn on the Ultimate Challenge: Adrenaline Rush show
Hearn had a few cheeky comments to make about the fight in a recent interview with MMA Hit Pit and seems confident of victory as he steps up to make his heavyweight debut. Smith, however, is equally convinced that he has his opponent’s number in this clash of styles match up.
After reading the Hearn interview, Big Ben took the time to give his view on his opponent’s comments and discuss his chances in the up-coming bout.
What technical improvements have you made to your game since you started training?
However much Jamie wants to say that I’ve got no skill on the floor and I just want to sit on people, my jiu-jitsu has come on a lot. I’m been doing it now probably just over two years, so my jiu-jitsu and wrestling have improved a lot.
The thing that is lacking from my game is obviously stand up. I don’t get on that well with stand up because I’m not really built for it. My bodyweight, my physique doesn’t really lend itself to range fighting. But it is something that I’ve been working on to improve.
His strength is obviously boxing and he’s not known as a ground fighter, so this is an interesting clash of styles. If you have to stand up with him for any length of time, how do you feel about that?
I’m not worried about his hands to be honest with you. I’ve watched all his fights, obviously. When you look at it, all this talk of ‘He’s got the best hands’ and all the rest of it… I mean when he fought my pal Jimi [Manuwa], Jimi felt his hands and didn’t think they were all that.
Alright, he’s had one KO, but when you actually look at his record, he’s had 3 wins and 4 losses – his last four fights; he’s had 1 win and 3 losses. The one win was the last one, Tam Khan, the KO. That was really, truthfully, no disrespect to Tam, but he was asking to get knocked out in that fight because he showed too much respect to Jamie.
He was just standing there with his head straight up in the air, trying to beat Jamie at his own game. It was never going to work, I mean, Tam Khan is a wrestler. Why he was doing what he was trying to do, I’ve got no idea, and he ended up paying for it, got sparked out – and it seems that since that, everyone has forgotten that he’s lost more than he’s won. All of a sudden, he’s like a hero. He’s knocked Tam Khan out and now he’s one of the most fearsome MMA fighters on the planet. It’s hilarious!
In contrast, I’ve won my last four fights, 1 KO, 3 by submission – and 3 of the 4 losses he has had have been by submission. It’s obviously something that is a weakness of his, when he’s going with someone like me, my submissions are good – and if I get hold of his arm and snap it in half, he won’t be knocking anyone else out for a while, that’s for sure.
You said Tam, as the wrestler, made a mistake against Hearn and got knocked out – you are also a wrestler, what do you plan to do differently?
I just think it was like he was nervous; he didn’t want to commit to nothing. The difference with me, I’ll come forward, I don’t care. I ain’t worried about being hit, I’ve been hit hard in sparring and I ain’t nervous about his hands at all. He can hit me as much as he wants, the more he hits me, the more I’ll keep coming forward and I will get him down.
He seems to think he will avoid it, this, that and the other, ‘I’ve got the speed of a snail’, but I will be drinking plenty of Red Bull that day to liven myself up a bit!
He did an interview with MMA Hit Pit the other day, did you take any of his comments personally?
No, not at all. All I knew of Jamie Hearn is what I saw on Jeremy Kyle, which I thought was hilarious. When he fought Jimi, some of the things he was saying at the time was a bit out of order and I kind of got that vibe about the guy. But I hadn’t ever really spoken to him
Then in recent weeks, we’ve spoken a few times and he’s alright. He’s actually a nice fella, we get on well like he said, there’s no animosity there. He has to do what he does with all the showmanship, all the drama and the panto because with the record he’s got, if he didn’t do that, he wouldn’t get booked. At the end of the day, you’ve got to remember he’s got 3 wins and 4 losses, which ain’t great, you know?
So the fact that he dresses up and he does all this, that’s what makes him interesting and that’s what people like about him. Fair play to him, I’ve got nothing against that. But I’m a big boy, he can say what he wants about me, try and diss me, it doesn’t faze me at all.
You mention your size – you’re a big heavyweight, he’s coming up from light-heavy… do you think weight will be a significant factor?
Yeah course it will… it will play a role. To get ready for this fight, I’ve obviously been sparring with a lot of lighter guys, so I’ve got used to dealing with people who are a bit quicker on their feet.
Jamie is quick on his feet, he’s got fast hands, I’m not taking anything away from him, but I’ve done a bit of research anyway… his actual boxing record, I don’t know if people know, but he had 10 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw. 22% KO, most of his wins were against journeymen with untold amounts of losses on their records anyway – and most of the good people he fought, he lost to.
His boxing was never that great, really. He reckons he was ranked 15 in the world, but I find that hard to believe with the record that he’s got – and then obviously the fact that he’s ended up doing [MMA], he can’t be that much of a great boxer or he’d still be doing it.
He’s come into MMA, he’s not dissed the ground game, but he’s kind of made it clear quite often that he doesn’t like the ground side of it. Well then, he shouldn’t be doing MMA, that’s what it is, mixed martial arts – it’s on the floor, it’s standing up, it’s all over the place. He’s found out to his cost that once he gets taken down, he’s in trouble.
Now he says that he’s with a great coach and he’s been doing all this ground work, well I hope he has, because he’s going to need it. But I know from my own experience, you can’t learn that stuff in a couple of months; you’ve got to be doing it all the time, 3-4 times a week, continuously, to start making it second nature when you’re in the fight.
I just think that once I get hold of him, he’s going to have a shock. He’s going to wish he never took that fight.
Have you got a prediction for the fight?
Yeah. I’m going to take him out in the first round. If there is a submission there, I’ll take it. if not, I’ll ground-and-pound him. He’s only got one tool in his box and that’s his hands – and I ain’t worried about his hands. At the end of the day, he’s saying that I send people to sleep when I’m talking, I’ll be sending him to sleep alright, but it won’t be from talking!
Obviously, he’s got a puncher’s chance, but I personally think that my power and my strength will be too much for him. I think that once I do get hold of him, which I will – I will get hold of him – and it will be all over for him. I grapple with some very high level people and if I can deal with that, he won’t have anything that I will have to worry about, that’s for sure.
What kind of performance can we expect from you on Saturday?
It’s going to be a lively one. As I say, I’ve been training to be more explosive for this fight. I’ve re-watched my last 4 fights, by my own admission, some of the things I’ve done haven’t been technically great and, yeah, I do use my size and my strength quite a bit but then you’ve got to play to your strengths. Him saying that is a bit like me saying that he relies on his right hand! Whatever your strength is, is what you are going to rely on.
I’ve got as bit of a point to prove, he’s got a bit of a point to prove. I’ll take my hat off to him for stepping up. He’s obviously got no fear, which I respect, but I still think that he’s bitten off a little bit more than he can chew.
I don’t think he really knows what he’s in for. I don’t know who he trains with, who he spars with. But one thing I do know, even when you’re sparring, when you’re training, it ain’t the same as when you’re in there and you’re getting it put on you. He might be confident with his grappling when he’s in the comfort of his own gym when you haven’t got people going all out on you – but when you’re in that cage, and you’ve got someone there who wants to finish fights, you’ve got to think very, very quickly.
We’ll see. I’m looking forward to it and I’ll look forward to some of these surprises he’s got for me. One other thing I was going to say, the one thing about Jamie is that he’s got options if the MMA career don’t work out for him, he can always be a gigolo or a comedian, one thing or the other.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank?
Stringfellows Club, Sci-MX Nutrition and Evolution Fightwear. Also I’d like to thank Joe Mac and Team 187, the Metroplex gym in Sydenham, Team Titan and Fight First MMA.
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