Heading into his meeting with Igor Pokrajac at UFC 140, Krzysztof Soszynski is focused on one thing: entertaining the fans.
Riding a two-fight winning streak into his second fight on home soil this year, the Winnipeg, Manitoba product doesn’t offer any of the standard clichés about stringing together victories, making a run at the title, or this being his time. Instead, he’s refreshingly candid and honest about where he stands and what he sets out to do when he steps into the cage.
“I don’t have the greatest talent when it comes to mixed martial arts. I’m not a great striker, great wrestler, a good jiu-jitsu guy — I feel like I’m decently well rounded, but the one thing I like to go do is put exciting fights on.
“It’s not about winning or losing to be honest. I have losses on my record because I fought so many tough guys earlier in my career. I’m going to lose fights — fighters are going to lose fights — but it’s how you lose them.
“As long as I’m going out there, putting on a great performance, impressing the fans, impressing the UFC, then I’m going to be very happy and I’ll continue on fighting in the UFC for a long time. That’s my goal.”
Since graduating to the UFC from Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter, Soszynski has amassed a 6-2 record, a mark that indicates he might be selling himself short in his self-assessment.
After collecting a trio of victories to start his UFC career, the 34-year-old one-time professional wrestler was bested by Brandon Vera at UFC 102. A pair of entertaining and violent battles with Stephan Bonnar followed, first at UFC 110, and then again five months later at UFC 116.
He lost the second meeting with Bonnar, but has since earned a pair of unanimous decision victories, most recently defeating Mike Massenzio at UFC 131 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Though he’s happy to earn the victories, Soszynski wasn’t overly pleased with his performance in either of his most recent wins. The bouts lacked the excitement Soszynski prides himself on bringing to the cage, the kind of excitement he created with Bonnar.
“My last two were a little dullish — I was fighting guys that wanted to take me down rather than stand and strike with me, so I’ve been wanting to best those fights. The two previous ones that were with Stephan Bonnar were absolute wars.
“I love those kind of fights; it was such a pleasure to fight him, and have such a great battle with him. It was awesome, and I always look forward to those kinds of fights. Those are the fights that people are going to want to see, and people are going to want to watch those fighters fight, so that’s definitely something that I want to keep doing with my career.”
Originally scheduled to meet in June, Soszynski hopes that he and Pokrajac can deliver the kind of back-and-forth slugfest that gets fans out of their seats now that they are finally going to stand opposite each other in the Octagon.
“I’m definitely looking forward to it. I was a little disappointed when he had to pull out of the last fight in Vancouver because of an injury,” he said. “I really like his style — he’s a good kickboxer, likes to stand-and-bang, likes to go toe-to-toe, which I’m really excited about.
“Those are the kind of fights that I want. He might maybe look to take me down, but I’m going to be ready for everything, like I always am. I’m hoping he wants to stand-and-bang, have a fun fight with me, but if it goes to the ground, it goes to the ground; I’m pretty good there too.”
The hulking light heavyweight with the disarming smile is also pretty good in front of a camera and on film.
With a role in the upcoming Kevin James MMA vehicle Here Comes the Boom and fresh off serving as Mickey Rourke’s stunt double in Immortals, Soszynski has enjoyed the challenges that have come his way outside the cage. But make no mistake about it — his new adventures remain secondary to his career inside the Octagon.
“For right now, I’m having a lot of opportunities outside of fighting coming my way, and I’m exploring those opportunities as well; they’re great. They’re fun because it’s something completely different from what I’m used to doing, so it’s nice to have those opportunities. But first and foremost, I’m a fighter; that’s how I make my living, and I’m really looking forward to continuing that.”
While the prospect of hanging up the four-ounce gloves is something many fighters struggle with, Soszynski knows that time is coming for him.
“It’s kind of see what happens and take it as it comes. I spoke with my family — I spoke with my wife — and we’ve kind of discussed that I don’t have much time left. I’ll be one of the first guys to admit to you that my body was never meant for this sport. I’ve known that from the start, and I know that now for sure.
“I’m surprised how far I’ve gotten in this sport with the body that I have, and all the injuries that I’ve been dealing with, but I just take it day-by-day with each fight. Depending on how I feel after this fight, if I have one more year left, I’ll talk to Joe Silva about that. If I have two more years left, we’ll talk to Joe Silva about that.”
Next up, he’ll be on location at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, standing under the bright lights inside the Octagon, working without a script, unsure of the outcome, but hopeful that he’ll entertain.
“I’m not very good at predictions; I’m not a big fan,” he laughs. “What I can tell you is that I’m 100-percent ready, physically and mentally. I’m looking to go in there, throw a lot of punches, a lot of kicks, and go toe-to-toe with Igor.
“Whatever situation comes to me, I’ll be ready. I’m just looking forward to putting on a great fight for all the fans in Toronto and all the fans that will be watching on Ion TV.”
Before Jon Jones came along, swooped in and became the youngest champion in UFC history, it was supposed to be the Lyoto Machida era.
Just two and a half years ago, the unbeaten Brazilian knocked out Rashad Evans, took the championship belt in his hands and said “Karate is back.” It was the sound bite heard throughout the mixed martial arts world, and with a resume that held wins over Evans, Thiago Silva, Tito Ortiz, BJ Penn, Rich Franklin, and Stephan Bonnar, few would have argued with the idea that Machida was going to reign for a long time.
Well, you know how that story went. After a disputed decision win over countryman Mauricio “Shogun” Rua five months after winning the title, Machida lost the belt to Rua in May of 2010. A UFC 123 defeat to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was another shocker, and suddenly a 16-0 record turned to 16-2 and many wondered if what they had seen in the Evans, Silva, and Ortiz fights was just a mirage. And no one took the fall from grace harder than the introspective Machida.
“I miss realizing my dreams and my goals, my objectives,” he said, through translator Derek Kronig Lee, when asked what he misses the most about being a world champion.
So as 2011 dawned, few would have pegged him as a title challenger come December. But Machida believed he had what it took to get back in contention and then regain the crown, and a stunning knockout of Randy Couture in April only heightened his expectations. But when he didn’t step up to face Evans in a short notice rematch at UFC 133 in August, “The Dragon” thought a short-term title opportunity was out of the question.
“In all honesty, at the beginning of 2011 I believed I would fight for the title soon, but as the year progressed I felt like that dream got further away, so I didn’t know if I would be fighting for the title this year.”
Ironically, it was an injury suffered by Evans in his win over Ortiz at UFC 133 that opened the door for Machida to face Jones in the main event of this Saturday’s UFC 140 card in Toronto, and now he gets the chance to resume a reign interrupted by the loss to Rua. So is it a different Machida than the one that first reigned over the 205-pound weight class?
“I became more focused on details,” he said. “I’m smarter in training in order to get more out of each session.”
Each trip to the gym is crucial against a fighter as dynamic as Jones, one that has earned the former champ’s respect with his performances thus far. That doesn’t mean he will be in awe of him when the bell sounds on fight night.
“I always saw him as a very versatile fighter and he has a lot of different combinations, but I only began to study him recently,” said Machida. “Every fighter poses difficulties, it’s not because it is Jon Jones or anyone else. He has good reach, a versatile game and he fights well on his feet, on the ground and takedowns. I believe I am well-versed in all three areas as well and I believe this will be a war of strategies, that’s what will count the most in the fight.”
It’s what makes Saturday’s clash so intriguing. It wasn’t so long ago that people were saying that Machida’s style wasn’t going to be deciphered anytime soon. Now they’re saying the same thing about Jones. But if anything is a given in the light heavyweight division, it’s that as special as you may be as a fighter, in this shark tank no one lasts on top for long.
“This is the best category in the UFC,” said Machida. “We mix speed, strength and technique, and I believe it is the toughest weight class in the UFC.”
He’ll get no arguments from the other recent champions pre-Jones, as only Machida and Jackson have managed to successfully defend the title out of the five men to hold the belt in the last four years before “Bones” took the crown. But that doesn’t matter to the 33-year old challenger now. The only history he is concerned about is becoming the second man (along with Couture) to regain the 205-pound title. It would be a feat even sweeter than the first.
“Definitely, the ups and downs are important in anyone’s careers,” he said. “You improve a lot after losing, and I believe this victory will have a sweeter taste of accomplishment.”
Despite being at the center of a whirlwind 2011 campaign that saw him go from phenom to champion to defending champion in the space of the year, Jon Jones likes to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to his fighting career. There’s no running down the list of contenders, no tape watching of challengers he may fight a year from now. It’s all about what’s right in front of him – now.
“I watch the fights, especially if there are top contenders involved, but as far as really studying them or being obsessed with them or anything like that, I just take them as they come and I just focus on the one I’m fighting next,” said Jones, who’s upcoming opponent, Lyoto Machida, may be the only fighter out there to break that mold.
See, the former 205-pound titlist has been attached to Jones for longer than the time it took to announce their UFC 140 main event this Saturday night in Toronto. And Machida might not even know it, but Jones certainly does.
“I remember it vividly.”
It was Machida the champion who Jones was asked about by a USA Today reporter in June of 2009, and when the New Yorker replied that the Brazilian was “very beatable,” he got caught in a storm of criticism considering that he was only two fights into his UFC career and here he was, talking about the champion of the division.
Little attention was paid to the fact that Jones was the one asked about Machida, and that he later explained that “a great Muay Thai champion” would be the one to beat Machida.
“It started me off with a big group of haters because they were like ‘who’s this kid to be talking about Lyoto Machida?’” recalled Jones. “’ That was my first controversy of my career where people lashed out at me for what I said. But it was something I felt that was true, and my prediction was a hundred percent correct – “Shogun” (Rua) was that great Muay Thai fighter.”
The backlash was a taste of what Jones would get in the aftermath of his March 2011 win over Rua, and that’s usually how it goes for young, gifted, and charismatic athletes like the 24-year old, who has nonetheless taken the negativity with grace and a smile. And as soon as he defended his title for the first time with a fourth round submission win over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in September, the critics began to fade into the background. Even Jackson gave the champion his just due in a post-fight interview, something that made the fight a win on a number of levels.
“It meant a lot to me,” said Jones of Jackson’s post-fight praise. “But the way I look at Rampage means more. He was so gracious, and he totally earned my respect. He made me a huge fan.”
More importantly though, the win let Jones know that he is on the right track as a fighter and champion.
“That fight really just helped me to believe even more in my abilities, that nothing’s been a fluke, and that our hard work is truly paying off in the Octagon,” he said. “That’s what I believed the whole time, even when I had no right to believe, and I’m really starting to believe now and getting even more comfortable in my own skin, more comfortable with my skill set, and trusting in it.”
The statement of Jones believing when he “had no right to believe” is a telling one, mainly because it shows you how a fighter must think if he’s going to do anything in this sport. You may not blurt it out to the world, but if you want to make it, you have to believe, even against all odds. Jones, despite his status as a junior college national wrestling champion, had no other significant fighting credentials when he entered the UFC for the first time in 2008 against Andre Gusmao, and he’s even admitted to learning some of his early striking moves off youtube.com videos. So what gets you by in situations like that, in addition to natural talent? Guts, smarts, and belief.
“I just realized how cold the world can be, and this is a world with very little mercy,” said Jones. “You gotta go out there and make something of yourself, believe in yourself, and trust in your own abilities, or else the world will pass you by. There’s a quote that says ‘you might as well be happy, because nobody cares if you’re miserable,’ and it’s kind of the same way in MMA. You gotta believe in yourself because the odds are always against you.”
Not anymore. In fact, as Jones encounters Machida, he is the favorite and no longer the hunter, but the hunted. He kinda likes it though.
“I’m definitely very comfortable with it,” he said. “Where they can all watch and try to come up with a strategy for what they need to do, I’m watching the one that’s in front of me and becoming obsessed with his style and everything about that guy. I think that target being on my back is only gonna force me to become better.”
As for Machida, Jones says, “I don’t think he’s adjusted his game too much. The thing about karate is that it’s strict on form and strict on repetition and a way of thinking, and he’s been doing it for so many years that it’s in his hard drive to fight a certain way. No matter who he fights against, it’s nearly impossible for him to try to truly change his style for a certain fighter. I guess he can become better at wrestling or learn some more skills of Muay Thai and jiu-jitsu, but he’s a karate fighter because that’s his life. It’s almost impossible to change a fighter who’s been fighting his whole life a certain way. The Lyoto Machida that fought Shogun, the Lyoto Machida that lost to Rampage, the great Lyoto Machida that originally came to the UFC, I’ve been studying his fights repeatedly, and it’s the same exact thing. There’s not that much unpredictability once you really break him down and study to see what he’s doing.”
If you were anyone else but Lyoto Machida, this would be the right time to hit the panic button, because it’s the moment you realize that as good as young Jon Jones has proven to be thus far in his career, he’s also studied your every move in order to knock you out or submit you. That’s scary, but it’s also something Machida has done to his opponents in the past. On Saturday, we’ll find out who has done their final homework assignment of 2011 the best.
Jones is betting he’s the one. And he hasn’t been wrong yet.
UFC 140, which is headlined by the five round UFC light heavyweight championship bout between Jon Jones and Lyoto Machida and the heavyweight rematch between Frank Mir and “Minotauro” Nogueira, airs live on Pay-Per-View from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 9pm ET / 6pm PT. Fans can also tune in to Ion Television in the US or Sportsnet in Canada for televised prelims at 7pm ET / 4pm PT, and those who “like” the UFC on Facebook can see the rest of the prelim bouts at 5:50 pm ET / 2:50 pm PT.
MAIN EVENT
Jon Jones (205) vs. Lyoto Machida (204)
PPV
Minotauro Nogueira (239) vs. Frank Mir (260)
Rogerio Nogueira (204.5) vs. Tito Ortiz (206)
Brian Ebersole (170.5) vs. Claude Patrick (171)
Chan Sung Jung (145.5) vs. Mark Hominick (145)
ION TELEVISED PRELIMS
Igor Pokrajac (205) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (206)
Jared Hamman (185) vs. Costa Philippou (185)
Dennis Hallman (158.5*) vs. John Makdessi (155.5)
Yves Jabouin (136) vs. Walel Watson (135.5)
ONLINE FIGHTS
Nik Lentz (156) vs. Mark Bocek (156)
Jake Hecht (170.5) vs. Rich Attonito (170.5)
John Cholish (156) vs. Mitch Clarke (154.5)
*Hallman will be fined for not making weight and the fight will proceed as scheduled
UFC 140: Jones vs Machida
Up kind of late, Cant stop studying, good thing I get to sleep in as long as I want tomorrow.. only 4lbs over -Jon Bones Jones
Assessoria LM: Lyoto e sua equipe reunidos no Canadá / Lyoto and his team together in Canada. twitpic.com/7qb3dg -Lyoto Machida
ARE ALL READY? ow.ly/7TYJT fb.me/1kRprzafJ -Rogério Nogueira
Good things to come. -Tito Ortiz
Good morning Canada! -Rodrigo Nogueira
@gotstyle nice suits pic.twitter.com/y2s5ODjl -Frank Mir
Hello Toronto #UFC140 @ufc -Brian Ebersole
Weigh in day! Feeling great, only a couple pounds to sweat out. Sorry if I am unable to reply everyone, time to focus! Appreciate support! -Mark Hominick
Got my weigh in underwear for tomorrow….prepare to be scarred for life -Mitch Clarke
Last workout done, feel incredible… #ufc140 -Mark Bocek
Weight is good, body feels good, ready for ufc 140 to kick off. -Jake Hecht
interviews and what not done for the day.. all systems go for #ufc140. -Claude Patrick
This stache is 4 stachebash.org,nt 2 be confused w Movember @soldiersangels @hireheroesUSA @rangerup @UFC #UFC140 pic.twitter.com/D4EhTxix -Jared Hamman
At the Game watching the Toronto Maple Leafs… @ufc @TigerJabouin. Awesome thanks.. yfrog.com/gz7fmxvj -JohnTheBull Makdessi
Finally land in Chicago hopefully we didn’t miss our connecting flight to Canada!! -_-
Yup we missed it guess a lil more hurry up and wait! Lol -Walel Watson
Flying up to Toronto, not only did our flight get cancelled but I can’t bring my snow globe!!! This is bulls**t! pic.twitter.com/5UEXildV -John Cholish
Snackdown
Who wins this fight?? pic.twitter.com/z6Qb0FUy -DaMarques Johnson
Punbelievable Tweets
Advice from Coach Jackson on Disney: “if ur not sure what sub to do on don duck, just wing it” pun intended & he admits how bad the pun was -Brian Stann
Big Cat Week starts sunday on #NatGeoWild !! purrrfect! -Tyler Stinson
Apple Store?
Hmmm…If i was an iPad, where would I be??? -Danny Castillo
Travel Tips with Miesha
I did it! 3 seats on the plane all to myself!! & all I had to do was push kick 2 ppl into the Isle! #NoHarmNoFoul -Miesha Tate
KenFlo is B-A-N-A-N-A-S
I ain’t NO follow-back guuurrrllllllll!!! -Kenny Florian
Derek’s Other Job
Anyone need a Swagger Coach , now offering really low rates ??? -Derek Brunson
Cub Swanson Fans
What’s the point of running on the treadmill if they have 30 fans pointed at me! I’m trying to break a sweat! -Cub Swanson
Renzo Gracie has a gift for putting anything into the proper bit of perspective. So after John Cholish finished up his mixed martial arts debut in 2007 with a first round submission loss to Jason Patino, it wasn’t time for Gracie to coddle his young charge. He simply told it like it was.
“I never seen someone smile so much from getting hit in the face,” he said.
Over four years and seven fights later, none of which he’s lost, the 27-year old Cholish laughs at the memory, but also adds a disclaimer.
“Since that first fight I’ve been very fortunate and I’ve worked on my skills at not getting hit in the face.”
But the love of the game is still there, and while you hear that a lot from mixed martial artists, Cholish really means it, and he’s got the proof to back it up. Simply put, if the Hackettstown, New Jersey native walked away from the sport tomorrow, he would probably be miserable, but financially he would be just fine. That’s what happens when you graduate from Cornell University with a degree in Applied Economics and Management and currently work as a Commodities Broker with a primary focus on brokering Natural Gas and Crude Oil options, futures, and swaps.
Yeah, he’s not your average pro athlete. But without the need to have fighting put food on his table, Cholish has freed himself to immerse himself in the sport and do it just because it’s a passion of his.
“I do it because I love it, and I know I have the income and the security from my primary job that I feel like I’m fighting for the right reason,” said Cholish, noting that whatever reasons his peers fight for aren’t wrong ones, just that what he does works for him. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s pretty good at what he does.
7-1 as a pro, with his last two wins coming via submission over WEC vet Jameel Massouh and Ultimate Fighter alum Marc Stevens, Cholish has seen his skill set grow significantly under the tutelage of lead coach John Danaher, as well as Gracie, and he’s emerged as a lot more well-rounded fighter than he was when he first walked into Gracie’s New York City academy with “only” a Division I wrestling background from Cornell. And back then, fighting wasn’t on his immediate radar.
“Mainly it was something to keep me busy and keep me in good shape,” Cholish recalled. “I was there for less than a year, and one of the guys casually threw out, ‘hey, would you like to have a fight?’ I said ‘Sure, that would be neat.’ I was initially thinking of it as something to do once to say to my grandkids ‘yeah, that MMA stuff, I did that.’”
But after that first bout, which was held outdoors on a baseball diamond in Fort Myers, Florida, there was no turning back for him.
“I really fell in love with the whole idea of being able to challenge yourself against another person, and I basically took it from there and decided if I’m gonna do this, I have to do it the proper way and take a step back and start training all the disciplines and blending them together,” he said.
Cholish wouldn’t fight again for over a year, but when he returned in 2008 with a decision win over Chris Connor, he said “I felt so much more comfortable once I got there.”
That made things uncomfortable for his subsequent opponents, who all fell down to defeat against Cholish. Apparently the only thing keeping the lightweight prospect from greater glory would be fitting training and fights in while he worked a high-pressure day job. But he never saw it that way.
“I just relate it to my career in college,” he said. “We had a pretty rigorous schedule, and our coaches and our staff were really big in helping us out with time management. I guess the easiest way to put it is that they always said that the primary objective was to get good grades and focus on your schoolwork. So that came first. We had set practices during the week, but if you needed help with school or classwork, they would help set up things like tutoring or extra office hours. And a big proponent of our training was getting extra workouts in, whether it was with an individual training partner, one of the coaches on the team, or going to the lifting program and doing some strength and conditioning. And if you had a set goal or a set idea of what you wanted to get accomplished, there’s no reason whatsoever to be in the gym for more than an hour, an hour and a half tops. Some guys come to the gym and sit around for two or three hours; what do they really get done? So whether it’s working on a specific technique or working on improving a certain strength area or speed, if you have an idea of why you’re coming in and everyone that’s there is on the same track, you’re gonna be pretty efficient. I think I have to give a lot of credit to being able to utilize my time management skills.”
Not to mention his self-admitted habit of having “a tough time sitting still.” Combine everything and here he is in the UFC, making his debut on Saturday against fellow lightweight prospect Mitch Clarke. It’s an unlikely tale, but one in which Cholish still has some chapters left to write. And you know you can’t wait to see how this one ends.
“What you realize when you study any martial art or any individual sport is that the only way to test your skill or ability or whether you’re actually improving from your training is in an actual live simulation,” he said. “That progressively led to me fighting, and I took it one win at a time and then said ‘I’m not too terrible at this, maybe I can keep doing it.’”