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Mariusz @ the weigh-ins looking as big as ever:Mariusz Pudzianowski, the 32 year-old five-time World's Strongest Man winner from Poland, makes his MMA debut on Friday night at KSW 12 in Warsaw, Poland.
"Pudzian" will headline the fight card in a heavyweight bout against professional boxer, Marcin "El Testosteron" Najman.
While he has made his name in Strongman competitions, Pudzian is no novice to combat sports: He is a kyokushin karate practitioner who holds a fourth-kyu green belt in the discipline, and had trained in boxing for seven years before launching his Strongman career.
His opponent and fellow MMA newcomer, "El Testosteron" Najman, has compiled a 13-4 record in professional boxing.
Unfazed by Najman's fight game pedigree, Pudzian issued a foreboding warning to his opponent via Fight Magazine:"If Najman wants to exchange punches with me I wish him luck. I won???t be as slow as an ox and I won???t let him beat me up. My mother didn???t raise me to be a bum. These hands can hurt; believe me."
Aside from the Strongman fame, Pudzian sings in his eponymous musical group, Pudzian Band, that formed in 2005 and toured for the first time in 2006. He also starred in the 2008 Polish version of "Dancing with the Stars" and finished in the second place overall.
With his celebrity status, Mariusz Pudzianowski has the potential to succeed the former Olympic judo gold medalist and PRIDE veteran, Pawel Nastula, as Poland's MMA star.
He, along with Mamed Khalidov, the KSW middleweight champion who recently earned a high-profile upset victory over Jorge Santiago in Sengoku, may become the catalyst for Poland's burgeoning MMA scene.
Elsewhere on the fight card, TUF veteran, Dean "The Renegade" Amasinger (5-1) will face Polish national karate team member, Maciej "Highlander" Gorski (7-3) and UFC veteran and former Cage Rage Light Heavyweight champion, James Zikic will meet Daniel "Kociao" Dowda (5-2) in a middleweight contest. The event will also feature an eight-man heavyweight tournament.
Founded in 2004, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW) or "Martial Arts Confrontation" in English, is Poland???s leading MMA organization. Modeled after Pride, KSW stages one-night four and eight-man tournaments, and counts Jason Guida, Antonio Mendes, Peter Sobota, Jordan Radev, and Mamed Khalidov among its past and present stable of fighters.
For those who are curious, here are some more interesting facts and trivia about Pudzianowski:In an interview with TV magazine, "Fakt TV," he states:
- Besides Pudzian, his nicknames include Dominator, Super Mariusz (Super Mario), Pyton (Python), and Duży Pyton (Big Python).
- Pudzian Band recorded a song called Zdobyć świat ("To Conquer the World") in 2006. A clip of him and his brother (member of the band) singing
- Some photos of his appearance in the Polish version of "Dancing with the Stars"
- Apparently, he spent 19 months in jail after his heroic deed backfired and fell victim to a collusion by a notorious Mafia boss.
"A local (mafia) boss got me into jail. He's very influential, and a very brutal person. It was because of this brutality. I couldn't just stand and watch as he physically abused an eighteen year old boy. He hit the boy until he fell down, and then he kicked him and put a shoe in/stood on his face. It was that scene with the shoe that made me angry/made me lose it"
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Renzo Gracie signs with UFC, likely meets Matt Hughes at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi
by Dann Stupp on Dec 11, 2009 at 9:15 am ET
Following Thursday's UFC 107 pre-event press conference, UFC president Dana White told a small group of reporters that a Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie matchup was likely for the near future.
Hours later, Gracie's management group at Dominance MMA announced Gracie has signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC.
And just hours after that, Hughes (43-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) confirmed he's slated to meet Gracie (13-6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on April 10 at the UFC's first-ever trip in Abu Dhabi.
Details of the event, which could be UFC 112, were not disclosed, though plans for an Abu Dhabi show have been in the pipeline for the past couple months. Last month at UFC 105, UFC U.K. Division President Marshall Zelaznik told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) the organization had been working on an Abu Dhabi event for 2010.
UFC president Dana White and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta have also recently traveled to the Middle East to meet with officials about the show.
Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and one of the Middle East's most Westernized cities. The country is home to nearly a million residents, and Abu Dhabi has become a popular tourism center under Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who's also a jiu-jitsu practitioner with ties to the Gracie family.
Hughes first announced his April 10 return earlier this month with a post on his official Web site. On Thursday he again took to Matt Hughes - 9-Time UFC Welterweight Champion to confirm the likely (though un-signed) fight with Gracie.
"I didn't know if I could say anything about my next fight, but I see that Dana has let the cat out of the bag," Hughes wrote. "So I can tell you what I know. On April 10, I will be fighting Renzo Gracie in Abu Dhabi. I haven't signed any paperwork, and I don't think Renzo has either. But I think this fight is going to happen."
Hughes, who had two memorable title runs at welterweight, hasn't fought since his decision victory over Matt Serra at UFC 98 in July. He rebounded from back-to-back losses to Georges St-Pierre and Thiago Alves with the win. The 35-year-old is just 2-3 over the past three years with victories over non-contenders Chris Lytle and Serra. In 2006 he defeated Royce Gracie, Renzo's first cousin, at UFC 60.
Gracie, a former PRIDE and IFL fighter, enters the UFC with a three-fight win streak, though he hasn't fought since his February 2007 disqualification win over Frank Shamrock at "EliteXC: Destiny." The 42-year-old had lost six of seven fights before the recent win streak, which also included wins over Pat Miletich and Carlow Newton.
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