“I Think We’re Going to Bang Away
Really Hard”

It’s Wednesday evening in Los Angeles, and Anacondas’ heavyweight Krzysztof Soszynski has just returned from seeing the Rocky Balboa movie. “It was okay and it has a decent story, but the fight scenes weren’t as good as the first five. Sylvester Stallone is older, so the timing and coordination wasn’t what we’d hoped, but the storyline was good,” says Soszynski.

Although Krzysztof has been calling Winnipeg, Canada, home since his family emigrated from Poland when he was 10, Krzysztof is currently staying at Bas Rutten’s place. “He’s the Anacondas’ trainer and my coach, so we’re staying right here at his house in Los Angeles. We’ve been taking Luna (Bas’s dog) for walks and hanging out.”

A couple of weeks ago, an opportunity came up for many of the Anacondas to go on a fishing trip to Cabo St. Lucas after they’d been training so hard. So Bas decided it would be good for them to have some days off to relax and get away from the gym. But now they’re back in LA, Krzysztof and Bas are focused on the IFL Superfight between Soszynski and Mike Whitehead.

For Krzysztof, his path to being an IFL heavyweight star has been rather unusual: “MMA just kind of found me. Back about ten years ago I started bodybuilding. About six years ago I started professional wrestling, and I met one of the wrestlers from the ’80s named ‘Bad News’ Brown. He showed me some jiu jitsu holds and I got hooked. I quit professional wrestling straight away and five months later I had my first fight, and here I am.”

On November 2, at the IFL World Team Semifinals in Portland, Oregon, Soszynski took on Wolfpack heavyweight, Devin Cole.

Krzysztof, could you give a brief rundown of your bout with Devin please?

“Oh, sure. Everybody thought that I was going to get my butt kicked pretty much – lose by ground’n’pound in the first round. But the game plan was to stay on my feet. I knew right away he was a good wrestler because I trained with him before, so I knew he was going to clinch with me and take me down.

“My plan was to make sure I didn’t get taken down, and he had a really hard time not being able to do that in the first round. He got a little tired, I landed some good shots, and I used my jiu jitsu in the end. I looked for the arm bar and there it was.

“I don’t think he knew that I was as good as I am on the ground. Most of the fights I’ve had so far have ended with g’n’p, or a TKO… I haven’t pulled off too many submissions with my wins, but he left me his arm and put his knee up, so I grabbed it right away and hung onto it.” 

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Tom Howard

Are you a full-time fighter now?

“That is correct: I’ve been a full-time fighter now for a year and a half.”

Has your professional wrestling background helped in MMA?

“Not really. I think it’s helped me with my athleticism. Being a professional wrestler, you have to be in really good shape, in really good condition, and you have to be very athletic. And I think that has helped me, definitely, in this sport. I train really hard, I push myself, and my trainers, Bas and Shawn Tompkins, push me. I think I train harder than a lot of the heavyweights out there. So in that case, yes.

“But as far as the technique and the mental thing – not really. It kinda got me prepared for fighting in front of a lot of people - having done so in wrestling – so I’m more comfortable being out in front of the audience. But having had over 20 fights now, I’m already comfortable about everything. So, yes and no.”

I know some of the PRIDE fighters were professional wrestlers before they took up MMA – most notably Kasushi Sakuruba – and it hasn’t done them any harm.

“Exactly. It definitely helps certain aspects. And as long as I learn the basics from Bas and Shawn, and the jiu jitsu, it brings everything together.”

You have a draw on your MMA record, which was against Mike Kyle. I read it was a technical draw. What happened there?

“During the fight I got poked in the eye pretty badly. I got bad abrasions of my cornea and I couldn’t see for about two days; I had to wear a patch. In the fight, when I got poked, I knew right away something major was wrong because I couldn’t open my eye at all. I got taken to the hospital, and it took about 10 days for my eye to mend… But being poked in the eye is why the fight was stopped.”

Do you think anyone can stop Ben Rothwell?

“Definitely. I think anybody in this sport can be stopped. Ben Rothwell is very good – I think he is the best IFL heavyweight. You know what, I get to fight him again in February. He beat me the first time and I wasn’t really ready for him; I was a little scared of him and all that. But now I’m confident, I have really good guys in my corner, my team’s really good, and everybody supports me and pushes me hard. So I think the outcome of this fight in February is going to be completely different. We’re going to see a different Krzysztof, that’s for sure.”

What do you expect from Mike Whitehead?

“Well, I trained with Mike Whitehead in Las Vegas – we were training partners for about two weeks, when I was preparing for my last IFL fight against Devin Cole. Our team was getting ready to go to Las Vegas, and Mike was there as well, getting ready to go against Mark Kerr. So he’s a great wrestler, he’s got really good hands, conditioning-wise he’s great. I don’t know about his jiu jitsu game – I didn’t get to roll with him too much, but his takedowns are fantastic, and his takedown defense is really good. I expect it to be a tough fight. But Bas and I are preparing really hard and we’re ready for him, for sure.”

Will you want to stand with him?

“Oh, absolutely. That’s always my plan now – especially having trained with Bas for the last eight months, and with Shawn Tompkins. They’ve been working on my standup and we’ve changed so much since the last time anyone’s seen me, they’re going to be very surprised with my skills as far as standing up goes.

“And we’ve been working really hard with some wrestlers out here in LA, helping me work on my takedown defense, so it’s going to be a really exciting fight. I think everybody expects Mike to win. I’m a huge underdog in this fight, but I have a win – win situation. I’m going to go out there, I’m confident, I’m comfortable, and we’re ready to go.”

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Devon Cole

It sounds like it will be a great fight for the fans.

“I definitely think so. I have a feeling he’s going to want to stand up with me because in training and in sparring, he got the better of me, so I think he’s probably going to want to stand with me and trade. I’m a southpaw so he’ll be getting ready for a southpaw. I’ve been training really hard with right-handed fighters, and I think it’s going to be a very good event for sure.”

Do you have a prediction for the fight?

“I’m not really into predictions, but I know it’s going to be very exciting, and I know it’s going to go past the first round - probably into the late second or third round. And I think it’s going to come down to who’s got the better conditioning. I’m 229 pounds when I fight. He’s going to be more around 250 or 260. So will conditioning play an important role in this fight? I definitely believe so. Will he have better conditioning than I do? I don’t know. I don’t think so. I think he’s going to get tired late in the second, maybe early in the third. And I think I will take advantage of that, and hopefully finish him off.”

Is it likely to go to the judges?

“I don’t believe so. To be honest with you, I think we’re going to bang away really hard, and I’m definitely fighting to knock him out and take him out of the game. If he’s going to take me down, I’m going to submit him.”

Who are you tipping out of Carlos Newton and Renzo Gracie?

“Well, you see I live in Canada – I’m a fan of both, but I’m going to go with Carlos. I was really happy with Renzo’s fight against Pat Miletich, and Renzo’s been getting better and better… I think it’s going to be a very exciting fight. I’m really looking forward to the ground action; I think it’s going to be unbelievable.”

Krzysztof, is there anything you’d like to add?

“I’m ready to fight; it’s going to be fun. I just want to thank everybody who supports me: I’m going to give it my best and I’m going to get a win out of this. Hello to the fans: MMA fans are the best fans in the world. To those who support the sport and me, I want to say thank you and they’re going to get a great show. Thank you to my family and friends.”

Your sponsors?

“Popeye Nutrition in Winnipeg, Gorilla Fightgear, Team Tompkins, Team Mundurucka, and Elite MMA Gym at a Thousand Oaks in California.”

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Devon Cole