(via AXS TV.)
TUF 8 alum and 39 fight veteran Krzysztof Soszynski has not fought since December of 2011, when he suffered a 35-second KO defeat to Igor Pokrajac at UFC 141. In the moments following the loss, “The Polish Experiment” unofficially announced his retirement from MMA, stating that he was “done” while being recorded by the Danavlog. Although Krzysztof could not name what day it was when asked by the doctor backstage, he was able to identify where he was (Toronto) and seemed rather lucid for a guy who just got “literally knocked out cold” for this first time in his career.
Shortly after the loss, Soszynski recanted on his decision, claiming that he had no memory of what occurred in the video and would wait to hear back from his doctor before making a decision (as if not remembering that conversation was not warning enough). No big deal, MMA fighters unretire all the time, right?
Cut to last Friday’s edition of Inside MMA, where Soszynski finally, officially announced his retirement from MMA after almost a decade in the game, citing memory loss as the reason he was forced to call it quits. You know, like that time he retired from MMA three years ago but forgot about it. Eesh.
My brain didn’t wake up for probably 40 minutes until after the fight. There’s an interview (in UFC President Dana White’s video blog and I’m) having an interview, and I don’t remember any of that stuff. I just remember walking into the octagon, I remember waking up – I already had my clothes on and had a shower and all that – and I have (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva telling me everything is going to be OK and they’re ready for you to go the hospital to get your CT scan, like the UFC always does when a fighter gets knocked out.
Although Soszynski has made a full recovery in regards to most of his mental activities, he admitted that he still struggles with short-term memory loss to this day.
It’s not getting worse, but it’s not getting any better. Yesterday I spoke with my wife, and today I’ll probably ask her the same questions I asked yesterday because I don’t remember the answers to those questions. It’s those little things that kind of bothered me. But the good thing is I don’t have any dizzy spells. I don’t have any long-term memory loss or anything like that. It’s just small, little things that you take for granted.
So let me get this straight: Krzysztof* is blessed with the inability to recall his wife’s inane conversations about how Janice in HR is a slut or how Karen in accounting is a drama queen who steals everyone’s food, and he’s upset about it?! Sounds like a gift from the Gods to me, amiright fellas? Women be shoppin’! Women be shop-pin!”
I’m sorry, mental trauma is a serious issue for an many MMA fighter and should be treated with the due respect. On the other hand, at least Krysztof gets a chance to meet new people every day! (*pelted with rocks*)
“The Polish Experiment” retires with a 6-3 UFC record that includes wins over Brian Stann and Stephan Bonnar**, as well as an appearance in Here Comes the Boom – the irony being that Here Comes the Boom is itself responsible for more self-induced head trauma than the sport of which Soszynski is retiring from. I’m sorry, I literally cannot stop myself sometimes. In any case, we’d like to wish Krzysztof the best of luck in wherever the road takes him, and hope that he will be able to recover at least some of what he’s lost as a result of MMA in time.
In semi-related news, I am offering $20 in cold hard cash to the first person that can form an actual, coherent sentence out of the letters in “Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Igor Pokrajac.”
*This is the first time in this article I spelled Krzysztof’s name right on the first try.
**Both of whom are themselves retired. So fleeting, is this thing we call mixed martial arts…