At this stage of his career, every fight has become the one with the highest stakes for Squamish mixed-martial artist Cole Smith.
That's arguably the case once more as Smith gets ready for his fight Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»UFC fight at Rogers Arena on Saturday. This will be the first home-turf match he's had since joining the premier MMA league this year.
"Every fight's the biggest fight," said Smith.
"If I'm on a losing streak, then I got to rewrite that losing streak — I got to win. If I'm on a winning streak — I got to continue the winning streak. It's kind of every fight's your most important fight."
In this case, Smith is continuing a winning streak.
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The 30-year-old fighter has had a perfect professional record, with seven wins and no losses or draws.
He won his debut UFC fight against Mitch Gagnon back in May via a unanimous decision.
Smith will be looking to eke out another win on Sept. 14 against 25-year-old Miles Johns in a bantamweight division fight.
Johns will be a tough competitor, Smith said, but he's faced off against similar opponents before.
"I feel like I have kind of fought his style before," said Smith.
"He's kind of a shorter, stockier wrestler with good hands."
The idea, Smith said, is to use his height and reach as an advantage and keep Johns at a distance with long kicks.
He'll try to avoid standing and trading punches with the U.S. fighter, he said.
"He's tough," he said. "He's going to be a good fighter, but I'm going to be tougher and I'm going to be better."
Smith said that he's been working on his grappling for the upcoming match, as well.
He's been working on finishing up his chokes from behind with his Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach, he said.
Smith added that there are certain perks to fighting on home turf.
"I'm expecting all 20,000 people from Squamish to be down there cheering for me," he said.
"I can't thank Squamish enough for all the support they've given me and everything that they've done for me."
