This past week MMASucka’s Nick King had the opportunity to chat with Krzysztof Soszynski about his upcoming fight with Igor Pokrajac at UFC 140, his S&C training with Mark Munoz and his crazy acting career. Sit back relax and enjoy…
Nick King: What’s up UFC fans, this is a Head 2 Head Fighter Interview, brought to you by MMASucka.com. My name is Nick and today I’m here with The Polish Experiment Krzysztof Soszynski. When Krzysztof isn’t training at Reign Training Centre with UFC MW Mark Munoz, Krzysztof fights in the UFC’s LHW division. On Saturday December 10th, at UFC 140 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Krzysztof battles fellow LHW, The Duke, Igor Pokrajac. So you’re taking on Igor Pokrajac, it’s at stacked fight card at UFC 140 in Toronto…Is this a good match up for you?
KS: I think so. I think I stand up well against Igor. We were supposed to fight at the UFC in Vancouver, but he had an injury, so we didn’t get a chance to do it. But I’m looking forward to this one! He’s an exciting fighter, who likes to stand and bang like I do, so we’ll put on a great show for the fans at UFC 140 in Toronto!
NK: So would you say you have similar fighting styles?
KS: A little bit. I think our styles match really well. I’m a huge fan of the Stephan Bonnar vs Forest Griffin fights, and from what I’ve seen of his fights, he likes to go toe to toe with his opponents, and I would like to do the same, so stylistically I think we match up really well. I think I might be a little bigger and a little stronger, and I am going to try and use that to my advantage.
NK: Do you see any other holes in his game you think you can capitalize on?
KS: I’m not sure about his ground game. I saw his last few fights where he was taken down by Stephan Bonnar and controlled. I fought Stephan twice and had great fights with him. If there’s an opportunity for me to take him down or to use my wrestling skills that I’ve been learning at Reign Training Centre, then I’ll do so. But I’ll try to go toe to toe with him and see what happens, and if it’s the kind of fight I like, that’s what I usually do in my fights. So if we can go toe to toe, we will do that!
NK: Ok let’s go back to Vancouver, UFC 131. The crowd was definitely behind you there. Do you think that fighting in Canada once again, that you’ll have the home field advantage?
KS: I definitely think so. I’m 2-0 in Canada in the UFC. I fought in Montreal against Brian Stann and I did really well. And then I fought Mike Massenzio in Vancouver, and I won that fight as well. So I’m hoping to go 3-0, after fighting in Toronto. I went to the very first show in Toronto, and it was an amazing experience. And I think I’ll do really well and it’s a great fight for me in Canada.
NK: You hit the trifecta! You did Montreal, then Vancouver, and soon enough you’re gonna do Toronto! That’s exciting, I’m happy for you! With a win over Pokrajac, that will put you on a 3 fight win streak, right? So do you think at that point, the UFC will see you as a threat for title contention?
KS: I’m not really sure. It’s up to Joe Silva and Dana White. I just go in there and do my thing! And if everything works out in this fight against Igor, I’ll be 7-2 to start my UFC career. That will be 3 years with them, almost to the day. And I’m definitely looking for bigger fights. I would definitely like to challenge a top 10 fighter, but first and foremost, I have to get thru Igor first. Once I do that, I can talk to Joe Silva and Dana White, about future opponents and future plans. But for right now, Igor is on my mind, and I have to get thru that first. Get to 7-2 and hopefully there will be some tougher match ups!
NK: So we’ve talked about Reign Training Centre down in California. You’re training with another big wrestler, UFC MW Mark Munoz. How has Mark helped improve your game?
KS: Mark has been a great help! I’ve been here for just under a year, and I really like working with Mark, along with a lot of the other great wrestlers here at Reign Training Centre. He’s been showing me a number of great wrestling techniques that he uses in his fights, and since he’s been using since he was 13 years old. I’ve been working on my defense. Especially since this last fight with Mike Massenzio, where I basically fought a straight wrestler. He tried to take me out of the whole fight and I had to defend really well and get up every time he tried to take me down. And then try to get on top. And that was all thanks to Mark Munoz and the guys at Reign Training Centre helping me with that. So the proof is in the pudding! It works, and Mark’s been a great help to me!
NK: In return, you were Munoz’s main strength and conditioning coach. Did that come naturally for you? Or how did that opportunity come up?
KS: Basically I’ve been doing strength and conditioning since I was 16 years old. I got into body building and lifting weights at 16 years old. And I’ve always told people I want to help athletes with their strength and conditioning. And that’s just something I fell in love with and have been doing for a while, thus Mark Munoz. I’ve actually come up with this K-Sos System. K-Sos meaning myself, and my strength and condition system with nutrition, and a weight cut. Munoz was my first client against his last opponent Chris Leben. And it really worked out well. For the whole time, I was cooking all his meals, and making sure his weight was on point. And we got him down to exactly what he wanted to be for the weight cut. He looked fantastic in that fight so I was very proud of him for following everything I had asked him to do. But yeah, we work really well together!
NK: When can we expect a K-Sos S&C DVD, or a book coming out?
KS: We’re working slowly on that. I’m just getting my system out there. I’m trying to help my other team mates at Reign Training Centre, with my system. I’m going to focus on my career first and see where it takes me. And once my career is over, I’ll start focusing on doing other things, like the K-Sos System that I’ve developed. But for now, my main focus is my fights and my team mate’s fights, and we will focus from there.
NK: Let’s move it back a few years. It’s been 3 years since you’ve been on TUF. How did that experience change you as a fighter?
KS: It was great. It didn’t really change me as a fighter, but it helped me a little more mentally. Before that fight, I already had well over 20-25 fights under my belt. So I felt like I was ready for a challenge. I never even thought I was going to make it on TUF, because I was older than most and I had a lot more fights than most. They usually look for the younger guys with 5, 6, 7, 8 fights. So me having over 30 fights at the time, I was surprised that they picked me. But it was definitely a great experience! It got me the goal of making it to the UFC. And since then, I’ve done really well. And I want to continue that trend!
NK: That brings me to my next question, heart. You see it’s important that you have heart. Where did that come from?
KS: That came from losing a few fights back in my early days, haha! I fought a lot of tough guys at the start of my career. I started my career, this sport at the age of 25, with no background of any kind. And it was definitely challenging, and really hard. I mean there was definitely a few times where I quit. Quit in my fights, and there was definitely a few times where I wasn’t prepared to fight some of these tough guys that I fought back in the day. And I learned a lot from those fights. And I definitely learned that having heart and being able to overcome anything in a fight, and able to push yourself beyond the limits, is very important. And that’s something that I strived for since those times, and I think I’ve done well, since those 7, 8, 9 loses that I’ve had at the beginning of my career.
NK: You said it earlier; the proof is in the pudding. Just stick with it and have heart, and you’ll succeed!
KS: Thank you very much.
NK: Ok so one more thing. You’ve got a few film gigs that you’ve worked on. And I noticed you were cast as Mickey Rourke’s stunt double in The Immortals. How did you land that?
KS: It was a great opportunity. I had a chance to work on a movie with Kevin James. The UFC is actually involved in that movie which is coming out next summer. It’s called Here Comes the Boom. It was actually shot right before my fight in Vancouver. So I was in Boston filming this whole film, and I had the chance to meet a stunt coordinator by the name of Garrett Warren. He’s an amazing stunt coordinator. Hi did Avatar and he’s done some of the biggest films in the world. And he really took a liking to me. He liked my work and in that movie, and he said anytime there’s an opportunity for me to do something with him, he will give me a call. And so I was cutting weight in Vancouver, and I got a call from him saying Mickey Rourke needed a stunt double, and would I be interested in this working for him after your fight. I said absolutely. And I sent him a few pictures of myself, to the movie company. They liked the pictures. And they said come on down! So basically on the Monday after my fight, I was in Montreal for the whole week, working with Mickey Rourke. And being his stunt double for the final fight scene in the movie they needed to do. We did the whole fight scene, so that’s what I was there for. It was awesome!!!
NK: That’s cool! So on that note, you’ll either see Krzysztof doing some crazy stunts in the movies, and you will definitely see him throwing it down in the UFC octagon real soon! Krzysztof will be fighting Igor Pokrajac in a LHW showdown at UFC 140. That will be taking place Saturday December 10th in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It’s another homecoming fight for The Polish Experiment, Krzysztof Soszynski! Good Luck man!
