The sport has caught and passed Scott Smith. Back in 2005 and 2006, Smith was a pretty competitive middleweight and light heavyweight. In 2011, he can barely compete with high level welterweights. Twenty-four year old Tarec Saffiedine landed just about everything he threw in busting up Smith's face on his way to unanimous decision victory, 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27, in the Showtime television of Strikeforce in Chicago.
Smith is now 0-2 down at 170 pounds. He's also 4-of-5 overall. Nicknamed "Hands of Steel," Smith (17-9, 1 NC) is a good power puncher, but still hasn't added enough head movement to his game to avoid major abuse. Saffiedine, coming from a kick boxing background, switched stances throughout and landed during dozens of flurries and punch-kick combinations.
The tone was set in opening round when Smith landed just eight strikes while Saffiedine (11-3) made good on 37-of-75 shots. Smith, 32, deserves credit because it looked like he might bail from the fight in the second. With 3;30 left in the round, Saffiedine landed a big head kick followed by a nasty combination. It wobbled Smith who kept his back on the cage for much of the final three-plus minutes left in the round. Smith survived but came up way short on the power strikes count 67-14. He also lost the overall striking battle 137-24. Saffiedine landed 49% of his shots.
Igor Vovchanchyn Anthony Walsh Wang Guan Wang Sai Ron Waterman Roman Webber
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