TUF 8 Light Heavyweight and 9 time UFC veteran, Krzysztof Soszynski (26-12) has officially announced his retirement on the “Inside MMA” show.
“I will never have another mixed martial arts fight ever again.” said Krzysztof on the show.
In his last outing he was knocked out by Igor Pokrajac in 35 seconds into the first round at UFC 140 in December of 2011.
“It was the first time I had literally been knocked out cold, my brain didn’t wake up till probably 40 minutes after the fight. There’s an interview I think with Dana White’s vlog and stuff, I don’t remember anything during that. I just remember walking into the octagon then waking up with my clothes on after. I apparently had a shower after that and i remember Joe Silva telling me everything was going to be ok and that they were ready for me to go to the hospital to get my CT scan like the UFC always does after a fighter gets knocked out.”
At first following the KO, Krzystof still wanted a comeback fight.
“I really wanted to have that 10th fight in, I mean nobody wants to finish their career on a loss. So I took 6 months off completely then called Joe Silva up and said ‘Could you set me up with a fight, set me up with a fight in December of 2012.”
But training leading up to the inquiry for the fight turned Soszynski off.
“My first bit of training before the bout, I was sparring with a little 155er and literally the first punch he hit me in the jaw and my brain told me ‘no more.’ I sent an email to the UFC telling them ‘Hey I really want this fight but I’m having some head trouble like memory loss, forgetting things, mixing things up, forgetting my words from time to time. Even counting backwards from 20-10 or 20-0 was tough.
Then Dana White took an active approach.
“Dana White called me and retired me on the spot, and he said he was going to send me to Vegas to get my head checked out and make sure everything was ok basically. I did all the tests well except for memory but even still my wife said no you’re not ever fighting again, my kid was like no you’re never fighting again. I knew right away then that it was time for me to move on and do something else.”
Soszynski went 6-3 in the UFC and will always be remembered as a hard fighter and one of the best pranksters that ever graced the TUF house.
