THE CANADIAN PRESS
Krzysztof (The Polish Experiment) Soszynski is looking forward to another “12 minutes of hell.”
The Canadian light-heavyweight won a controversial TKO over Stephan (American Psycho) Bonnar at UFC 110 on Feb. 20. Now they get to do it all over again Saturday night at UFC 116 in Las Vegas.
Soszynski (20-10-1) was thinking mayhem going into the first Bonnar bout. He had had plenty of pro fights but thought his resume needed a brawl.
“Always wanted to be in one,” he said. “I figured Stephan Bonnar would be a perfect opponent for something like that.”
What he got was “12 minutes of hell.”
In actual fact, the two 205-pounders went at it hell for leather for 11 minutes four seconds, beating the crap out of each other at Sydney’s Acer Arena in the UFC’s first visit to Australia.
Soszynski was cringing from an accidental poke in the eye less than 20 seconds into the bout. Bonnar, as per usual, was leaking blood after about a minute.
“Smell the blood,” yelled Soszynski’s cornerman.
A cotton swab poked up Bonnar’s nose was bright red when removed by the cutman after the first round.
In Round 2, Soszynski developed a mouse under his right eye and Bonnar was cut under the left eye. Then the floodgates opened seconds into the third as the clash of heads carved up Bonnar’s forehead like a can-opener.
“Oh my God, he is pouring blood out of his head,” said commentator Joe Rogan. “This is crazy.”
Both fighters were bathed in blood when the fight was halted on the advice of the ringside physician, with the ref incorrectly ruling the damage was caused by a punch.
“I thought we put on a good show for the crowd, except for the ending,” said Soszynski, whose shaved head showed a knot within seconds of the collision.
Because Bonnar was cut by an accidental clash of heads, under MMA rules, the fight should have gone to the scorecards when it was stopped in the third round. Instead the decision went to Soszynski when Bonnar was deemed unable to continue.
“Speaking with some of the judges after the fight, I was winning the fight and I would have been awarded the fight,” Soszynski said. “So we get to do it again. I’m very excited about that.”
Soszynski toured Australia with his wife for a few weeks and then got the call for the rematch so it was back into the gym. He says it’s been more of a mental camp.
“Because now that we know each other, we’ve been through 12 minutes of hell in there with each other, now it’s going to be who’s going to exploit whose weaknesses from that first fight,” he explained. “And see who’s going to make the changes in their camp and their game plan to exploit those weaknesses.”
As a result, Soszynski is expecting a fight that will be a little slower-paced but more technical.
“I don’t think it’s going to be as crazy as the first one.”
Soszynski’s game plan for that fight was to come straight at Bonnar, which he demonstrated from the get-got as he chased his opponent across the cage in the opening seconds.
“I wanted to pressure him because he’s the one that usually puts the pressure on,” the tattooed Canadian said.
Soszynski said he took some flak for going straight at Bonnar without touching gloves, as often happens in a show of respect at the opening bell. But he said he asked Bonnar before the fight whether he wanted to touch gloves — “and he said no.”
So it was game on. “We went to war,” Soszynski said.
The 32-year-old Soszynski has now won four of five in the UFC with the Bonnar win helping erase memories of a loss to Brandon (The Truth ) Vera at UFC 102 last August.
He took the Vera fight on five week’s notice — following back-to-back bouts on April and May.
Not thinking he would be fighting again after the Andre Gusmao win in May at UFC 98, he took three weeks off.
“I ate a whole lot of bad food. I had a real good time with the family and friends, just hanging out, having some fun being away from the gym,” he said.
“And all of a sudden I’m in the midst of having a large pizza from Pizza Hut and I get a call, ‘Hey, Krzysztof, do you mind fighting for us in five weeks against Brandon Vera?’
“I’m never going to turn down an opportunity like that, especially on a main card, so I accepted the fight. I just wasn’t able to get my body in the physical shape it needed to be to be able to push for three full rounds. I was already tired after the first round and it showed in the second and third rounds … I didn’t have enough fuel, enough gas for that fight.”
It’s a lesson well learned, he said. A quality opponent like Vera needs a proper camp.
While Bonnar needed stitches and crutches after the Australia fight, Soszynski said he avoided any major injuries other than bruising.
“But I was definitely sore. I had a pretty black eye,” he said,.
He made the mistake of blowing his nose after the fight — “and my eye swelled up a little bit.”
The rematch was originally slated for the live finale of Season 11 of “The Ultimate Fighter” on June 19, but it was pushed back a few weeks.
Originally from Winnipeg, Soszynski has moved from Temecula, Calif., to Lake Forrest to be closer to Mark Munoz’s gym, Reign. The big Canadian still spends some time at Team Quest, but says he needs to train with more big men, citing some 950 kilometres travel a week to get the training he needed in advance of the Bonnar fight.
Now he lives five minutes away from a gym filled with big men.
“It’s only going to make me better,” he said of working out with Munoz, Strikeforce champion Muhammed (King Mo) Lawal, Lew Polley and Renato (Babalu) Sobral as well as a string of other visiting fighters.
Bonnar (14-7), who unsuccessfully appealed the Australia decision, needs a win. The 33-year-old has now lost three straight after an injury hiatus.
But his credit is good with the UFC, which will not soon forget his role in the TUF Season 1 finale with Forrest Griffin — a knock ’em-down brawl that helped build the organization’s brand.
“Let’s do rounds 4, 5 and 6,” Bonnar said in the cage after the first Soszynski fight. “How about it guys?”
The brawl resumes Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
NOTES — The UFC has signed unbeaten South Korean Dong-Yi Yang. The 27-year-old middleweight is unbeaten in nine pro fights. He’s a member of the same Korean Top Team that produced the Korean Zombie, WEC star Chan Sung … Tyson Griffin is stepping in for the injured Joe Stevenson against Japanese lightweight Takanori Gomi on Aug. 1 in a UFC televised card at the San Diego Sports Arena.
