The biggest fight of his life

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This article was published 27/07/2020 (2200 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz steps into the octagon at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Sept. 29, the Winnipegger will be fighting for something more important than a championship belt.

Ksiazkiewicz, a 30-year-old middleweight who has a career 8-0 record, is preparing for the biggest fight of his life. He will be competing on Season 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series where he will fight Brazilian Mario Sousa (11-1) in hopes of impressing the UFC boss and earning a contract. The show is designed to be a UFC tryout for promising fighters.

“This fight could be the difference between me setting my kids up for the future or me going into coaching,” said Ksiazkiewicz, a father to two girls, 3-year-old Paulina and 1-year-old Ella.

“That’s the pressure that I have. For this fight, I have to impress. Whether it’s trying to knock the guy out or submit them right away, my goal is to finish this fight in the first round and make an impression.”

The last time Ksiazkiewicz fought was last November at a card in Brandon where he defeated experienced Brazilian fighter Guilherme Miranda with a rear-naked choke in the first round. Ksiazkiewicz, who took the fight on 11 days notice, didn’t get a professional contract out of it, but he did get something to remember his performance by thanks to his coach and Winnipeg Academy of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) founder Curtis Brigham.

“My last opponent was a jiu-jitsu guy that was super high level. World-class, competed on the world stage. And Curtis watched a couple videos of him and said ‘You’re going to submit this guy.’ And I was like ‘Eh, I don’t know.’ And he said ‘OK, you know what, if you submit this guy, you have to get a tattoo that says ‘Brigham Jiu-Jitsu.’ In three minutes, I submitted the guy,” said Ksiazkiewicz as he revealed the tattoo on his left wrist.

Ksiazkiewicz’s mixed martial arts journey began at Brigham’s WAMMA 15 years ago. Ksiazkiewicz, born in Germany before moving to Winnipeg at age two, was in high school at Glenlawn Collegiate where he had some experience in karate and wrestling. All it took was a joke from his dad’s coworker to get him to give MMA a try.

“So my dad was working with a guy that used to train here. I had my learner’s permit at the time and I drove my dad to work. My dad gets out of the car and we switch seats and this guy is standing there and said ‘Oh I heard you think you can kick my ass.’ I was like 15 years old and full of piss and vinegar. So I went ‘Yeah, for sure’ and he just started laughing and said ‘OK, see you tonight at the gym’ and that’s how I got started here. I got choked out like 50 times by a 150-pound woman and I’m like ‘You know what? I can’t let that happen again. I’m staying here for life.’”

For opponents, there’s been nothing funny about stepping into the octagon with him. The 6-3 Ksiazkiewicz, who was given the nickname “The Iron Pole” due to his Polish heritage and because he used to be on the skinny side, has finished seven of his eight professional fights — five via submission and two stoppages due to strikes.

“You know what, it just happens. I like to take risks. I’m not the type of guy who only searches for a knockout or only searches for a submission. The way I see it, if something pops up, I go for it right away,” Ksiazkiewicz said.

He hasn’t had trouble finishing fights, but Ksiazkiewicz has struggled to find guys to square off against. Ksiazkiewicz averages one fight per year and his most recent contest was his first fight in Manitoba in over six years. In fact, he might have scored a UFC contract by now if finding fights was a bit easier. The promotion wanted him to fight at Bell MTS Place on Dec. 16, 2017 for a UFC Fight Night card if Ksiazkiewicz could get one more win under his belt. Ksiazkiewicz had a fight scheduled for September, but his dream of fighting for the top fight company in the world at home was dashed when the fight got cancelled.

“For guys coming up, if you’re undefeated, there are less and less guys that are willing to fight you. The more your record grows, the pool gets smaller and smaller,” said Ksiazkiewicz, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who teaches kickboxing at WAMMA.

“It’s super tough here, especially in Manitoba where there are no shows. A show comes here once every two years or so. You’re forced to travel to enemy territory. It’s like a Street Fighter video game. You’re traveling all the time and fighting in enemy territory.”

His experience fighting in enemy territory could help him come September. Ksiazkiewicz, who found out back in January that he’d be on the Contender Series but had to keep it under wraps until this month, will have Brigham in his corner but that might be it. Ksiazkiewicz said he isn’t sure if any of his family members or friends will be allowed to make the trip owing to COVID-19 restrictions.

“That’s been pretty much my whole career. It’s nothing different. I fought in Anchorage, Alaska and nobody came. I didn’t even have a corner… I’m kind of used to it. Most of my fights have been on the road… I’m used to being that lone warrior so it’s not going to be anything different than what I’ve experienced before,” Ksiazkiewicz said.

Training for a career-altering fight in the middle of a pandemic isn’t ideal, but Ksiazkiewicz has been able to access WAMMA for some individual training and stay active at home. He also makes a monthly trip to Brandon to train with Winnipeg native and former UFC veteran Joe Doerksen. Before retiring in 2014, Doerksen fought nine times in the UFC between 2004-2010. Doerksen, Krzysztof Soszynski, Roland Delorme and Brad Katona are the only Winnipeg fighters to ever make it to the UFC and Ksiazkiewicz is confident he can add his name to the list. But he isn’t going to settle for just making the big leagues.

“Once we get the contract, within the first year the goal is to crack the top 15 and then work my way up to that title shot.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31