'Polish Experiment' Credits Conditioning, Patience for UFC 122 Win

Krzysztof Soszynski | Sherdog.com

UFC light heavyweight Krzysztof Soszynski outpointed Croatian Goran Reljic on Saturday at UFC 122 at the Konig Pilsener Area in Oberhausen, Germany.

According to Polish-born Canadian, the win came as a result of careful preparation.

“The plan was simple -- just to take my time and be patient. I usually start my fights really fast and furious, but I thought that he would be ready for that,” said Soszynski in a UFC.com backstage interview. “So I took my time in the first and in the second, but I made sure that I was still busy enough that he was getting tired.”

Soszynski studied his opponent carefully before his fight, exploiting what he perceived as a weakness in Reljic: his conditioning.

“He got tired in his last two fights. I wanted to see if he'd get tired in this one, too. And he did," Soszynski said. "In the third round, he was dead, exhausted. [In] the second, he couldn't take me down; I knew I had that round for sure. I just wish I would have finished him, because I was so close to getting that finish.”

Soszynski, who trains at Team Quest in Temecula, Calif., claims that while his opponent may have tired as the bout wore on, he was still feeling sharp.

“We train conditioning every fight," he said. "It's my goal to get my conditioning as high as I possibly can, and it paid dividends in this fight. In the third round, I was still feeling fresh. The jab was landing. The cross was landing.”

Soszynski, now 5-2 in the UFC, knew what to expect from Reljic once fatigue set in. In the final frame, “The Polish Expirement” fended off a kneebar attempt and landed solid ground-and-pound on the tired Croat.

“We knew when he was tired, he was either going to kick or go for a takedown. [After stuffing his takedown], I was doing a lot of punches from the back, controlling him,” said Soszynski. “He was trying to go for that kneebar, but I sat on my legs really good and started wailing away as much as I could. When we got up, he tried to do the same thing again. I got that side mount, and I was able to finish there and hold him off.”

While the tattooed professional wrestler turned mixed martial artist does not hold an undefeated record inside the Octagon, he does have a perfect record while fighting for the organization outside the United States. With a smile on his face, Soszynski proudly stated his international UFC record, perhaps campaigning for a spot on the main card of a future show outside the U.S.

“I'm 3-0 now outside of the U.S.," he said. "It feels great -- Montreal, Australia and Germany. We'll see where it takes us next.”