‘OK, the decision is mine’

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This article was published 26/11/2020 (1246 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Makeup would’ve been a lot less painful.

After losing a controversial decision to Brazilian fighter Mario Sousa in the main event of Dana White’s Contender Series on Nov. 10 in Las Vegas, Winnipeg mixed martial artist Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz FaceTimed with his three-year-old daughter Paulina.

“She saw me and she asked me ‘Why are you wearing purple makeup on your eyes?’ And then she asked me if she could have some, too,” said Ksiazkiewicz with a laugh. 

Unfortunately, daddy wasn’t wearing makeup: he was sporting a pair of black eyes. That was the least of Ksiazkiewicz’s concerns, though, as he also left the octagon with a small fracture to his orbital bone, broken ribs and a busted left hand. 

Just another day at the office for a professional cage fighter.

The show, which is run by UFC president White, is a weekly competition where the most impressive fighters of the night are awarded UFC contracts.

“Early in the fight I felt my hand snap. I broke my hand like a year-and-a-half ago and had a titanium plate in there, but when I hit him, I felt the titanium plate snap in half as well as the bone,” said the 6-3 middleweight.

“I kept using it until I just couldn’t anymore. You could see in the third round that I wasn’t punching too much just because I couldn’t use it anymore. It felt like I was causing way too much damage. When I got an X-ray later on, I broke it in three pieces, which is super uncommon.”

Even though he had a messed up hand for majority of the three-round tilt, Ksiazkiewicz impressed. He took Sousa down with ease on numerous occasions and was able to control the fight on the ground for the most part. The 24-year-old Sousa was able to respond by landing some big shots, but he couldn’t put away Ksiazkiewicz, who’s nicknamed “The Iron Pol” due to his Polish heritage. To the surprise of many, Sousa’s strikes were enough to score a unanimous decision victory (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) to improve to 12-1-0 in his MMA career. It’s the first time Ksiazkiewicz, 30, has tasted defeat and his record dropped to 8-1-0. 

“When I heard 30-27, I thought they were going to call my name. Not because I thought I won all three rounds, but I knew I definitely secured two. Hands down, two of the rounds were mine… So I thought, ‘OK, the decision is mine’ and then I heard them call his name and I’m like ‘What is going on here?’ But that’s the sport,” said Ksiazkiewicz, who trains at the Winnipeg Academy of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) with head coach Curtis Brigham.

“When you got judging officials responsible to make a decision, that happens sometimes… But yeah, I was shocked to say the least.”

A fighter disagreeing with a decision isn’t anything new, but Ksiazkiewicz’s feelings have some merit. Despite Sousa having his arm raised, White did not offer him a UFC contract as he felt Ksiazkiewicz deserved the decision. Michael Bisping, a UFC hall of famer, is a commentator on the show and he also shared his displeasure with how the judges scored the fight. 

Ksiazkiewicz wasn’t able to chat with White afterward as he was taken to the hospital have surgery on his hand, paid for by the UFC boss, where they inserted a titanium screw that runs from his knuckles to his wrist. 

“My agent was communicating (with them) and he said I definitely put on a good enough performance where they won’t forget about the impression that I made,” Ksiazkiewicz said. 

It was a unique experience having the biggest fight of his life in the middle of a pandemic. Ksiazkiewicz was in Vegas for 12 days and was tested for COVID-19 eight times. There were no fans allowed at the UFC Apex for the show. As the main event, Ksiazkiewicz did, however, get the rock star treatment of having his own locker room. Not exactly a common experience for a guy who made a name for himself in the sport by fighting at the RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg. 

But his next fight, whenever that may be, likely won’t be in the Keystone Province, or anywhere in Canada for that matter. The pandemic has essentially erased all Canadian fight cards for the time being, whereas several American promotions have continued to operate. Ksiazkiewicz won’t waste time searching for a new opponent, as he has a work visa that will allow him to cross the border to fight. He anticipates he’ll be healed up and ready to go in 12 weeks. 

While Ksiazkiewicz didn’t get the result he was hoping for against Sousa, he doesn’t view the loss as a major setback. He received encouraging messages from people he’s never met back home, across Canada and even in Poland, and he’s more confident than ever he’ll eventually make it to the grandest stage of them all in the fight world.

“I definitely feel I made a point that I belong there. I belong with the elite and I can compete with the elite. It doesn’t matter if I’m injured, as long as I’m awake, I’m going to keep going. I feel I represented Winnipeg well and WAMMA well and I’m going to definitely continue to try to make it.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31