Krzysztof Soszynski.

BY JAMES BRYDON
sportsnet.ca

If there is any pressure on either Krzysztof Soszynski or Stephan Bonnar to get back in the win column in the matchup of 32-year-olds in Australia, Soszynski isn’t feeling it.

The UFC has cut a number of fighters recently after a losing a second in a row, including fellow Canadian Tim Hague. But Soszysnki, who takes on Bonnar in the undercard of UFC 110 at the Acer Arena in Sydney Sunday, feels his performances have earned him a little more leeway.

“I don’t really feel any pressure going into this fight as far as what’s going to happen to me if I lose or anything like that,” Soszynski told sportsnet.ca in a phone interview on Friday. “I’m coming off three wins in a row, then a really tough last-minute fight against Brandon Vera, which I lost via decision only. I was in the fight all the way through and I thought I did some really good things.”

Indeed the light-heavyweight fighter from Winnipeg, who got into the UFC by way of The Ultimate Fighter, started his career in the Octagon in December 2008 with a lot of promise. He earned submission-of-night honours for his first two victories, both by kimura, over Shane Primm and Brian Stann and followed that up with a knockout of Andre Gusmao last May.

He hit a bit of a speed bump in August in his biggest challenge to date when he fought Vera, in a bout he took on short notice after Matt Hamill pulled out with injury. But he said he took a lot from that fight that he can build on and that it proved to him he really belonged in the UFC’s 205-pound division.

“I’m not too far away from being a contender,” Soszynski added. “Going toe-to-toe with one of the most skilled fighters in the UFC, one of the better strikers, grapplers, wrestlers, in the UFC and battling to the end even though I was gassed out in the second and third round after only five weeks to prepare. “It told me a lot about my heart and my determination, and that I am ready for a run at the title and hopefully one day I’ll get the shot.”

The first step on that road is against Bonnar, a fighter Soszynski admits “built the sport to where it is today,” but one who may be at a crossroads in his career. The American has lost two straight and is definitely in a more precarious position than his Canadian counterpart. Bonnar is coming off a loss last July against 45-year-old Mark Coleman, who was cut following a defeat earlier this month at the hands of Randy Couture.

Despite Soszynski’s flattering words about him, it would be tough to imagine the UFC holding onto a guy with three straight losses. (Wanderlei Silva, who takes on Michael Bisping on the main card of the event, is in a similar position to Bonnar.)

One of the biggest things Soszynski said he’s had to adjust to fighting in Australia is not so much the time difference itself but the timing changes it presents. “With the fight on Sunday at 2 o’clock, we actually have to be up early, and we leave for the venue at 8:30 in the morning. That’s the challenging part I guess to see how everybody performs that early, especially being used to fighting in the evening and having some time just to get your wits about you and get the game plan fit in your head.”

In addition, Soszynski is used to arriving in a city where he’ll be fighting on Wednesday, just three days before fight night. But for this one he has been in town for more than a week. While he quickly got acclimated to the time change, he’s had to spend a lot more time out of his own environment than he`d like.

At least the buzz around the event, which was sold out on the first day tickets were available to the public, has been good. Soszynski, who fought at the UFC’s second sold-out show in Montreal last year, believes it could be just as wild for this one Down Under.

“It’s on TV everywhere, there are billboards everywhere. There are fans coming through the hotel all the time looking for autographs, walking up and down the street stopping for autographs. The atmosphere is pretty crazy.

“I think it will be sort of a similar thing to what I experienced in Montreal ... if not better!”

Another obstacle with fighting across the globe is the cost to bring your trainers to the country to help with last-minute preparations. The UFC only flew one cornerman for him; however, in addition to having his Muay Thai coach Ed Buckley from Team Quest in California on hand, he was fortunate to have a couple of Aussie connections when he got there.

Heavyweight Soa Palelei, who joined Team Quest in late 2007 during a one-fight stint with the UFC, is from Australia. So Soszynski was able to hook up with his former training partner in the past week, which has been a real help.

“We’ve been good friends for quite a while now, and I asked him to be in my corner,” Soszynski said.

He also knew Australian kick-boxer Peter Graham, a former K-1 World Grand Prix champion, and has been training at his gym since he arrived in Sydney. That, and the extra time he had to prepare this time around, should put him in a much better position than he was last time.

“This has been the easiest cut I’ve had to do. I had a nice long training camp, 14 weeks. I’m just going to go out there and do the job to the best of my abilities and whatever happens, happens.”