Ricky Simon’s Wrestling Left Smotherman Fighting for Space
Ricky Simon defeated Cameron Smotherman by unanimous decision at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on June 14, 2025. The bantamweight contest ended with scores of 30–27, 30–27 and 29–28 after Simon repeatedly used wrestling and positional pressure to control the exchanges.
A late opponent change reshaped the matchup
Simon had originally been scheduled to face Charles Jourdain. An injury removed Jourdain during fight week, and Smotherman accepted the replacement assignment.
The change brought Simon an opponent with a different preparation window, but his winning approach remained rooted in the grappling that had long been central to his game.
Control time limited Smotherman’s opportunities
Simon completed three takedowns from ten attempts and accumulated nine minutes and thirteen seconds of control. Smotherman did not complete a takedown, spending much of the contest trying to regain space.
The striking totals were closer than the positional battle: Simon landed 34 significant strikes to Smotherman’s 29. His ability to determine where the exchanges occurred helped prevent Smotherman from building extended attacking sequences.
A second victory strengthened Simon’s rebound
Every judge favored Simon in the first two rounds. Derek Cleary awarded the third to Smotherman, while Will Fisher and Jon Marigliano scored all three rounds for Simon.
The result followed Simon’s first-round knockout of Javid Basharat in February. Atlanta therefore supplied his second victory of 2025, earned through sustained control over the full distance after his previous outing had ended with an early finish.
Sources
- UFC: June 14 Atlanta venue and weight classes
- UFC: official judges’ totals and recorded Atlanta results
- UFC: Jourdain’s injury withdrawal and Smotherman replacement
- CageMetrics: recorded takedowns, control time and significant strikes
- MMA Decisions: each judge’s round-by-round scores
- UFC: Simon’s February 2025 knockout of Javid Basharat
Article Tags
Ricky Simon, Cameron Smotherman, UFC, MMA
