After a year on the shelf, Trevor Smith showed no signs of ring rust.
Smith, a veteran middleweight, played spoiler at UFC Fight Night 92 on Saturday, winning a unanimous decision over the debuting Joe Gigliotti.
"Hot Sauce" fought smartly, pressing Gigliotti up against the cage and working inside for the majority of the first round. What little of it was spent standing offered a glimpse of Gigliotti's power, but Smith, who's been knocked out four times in six losses, fought the more tactical fight, effectively nullifying the newcomer's striking.
The second-round saw the fight go to the ground, with Smith scoring points with either ground-and-pound or by taking the rookie's back in an effort to work in a choke.
The third round was essentially more of the same. As soon as Gigliotti began to connect with strikes, Smith reverted back to his tried-and-true formula, again keeping his foe on his back and peppering him with elbows.
Despite getting little chance to flaunt it, Gigliotti clearly possesses dangerous power, but will need to improve his ground game now that wrestlers akin to Smith have a blueprint to beat him.
Smith improves to 14-6, while Gigliotti suffers his first career loss, falling to 7-1.
