There have been many people coming to this blog after searching for an answer as to why 5 time WSM winner Mariusz Pudzianowski was not competing this year. Back in March I wrote a post reporting that Pudzianowski would be concentrating on his Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) career instead. Mariusz won his first fight against Marcin Najman in December 2009, and then fought twice in May of 2010. Having 2 MMA fights in one month is unhheard of, gone are the days when people fought multiple times in a day like used to happen in UFC and PRIDE. His second MMA fight was on May 7th 2010 where he beat Yusuke Kawaguchi by unanimous decision at KSW XIII. Then, just 2 weeks later on May 21st, he fought and lost to former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia by submission to punches on round 2 at Moosin: God of Martial Arts in America.
Fast forward to September 2010 and this was when World’s Strongest Man 2010 was taking place in South Africa, but instead of taking part Mariusz Pudzianowski instead had a fight against Eric ‘Butterbean’ Esch at KSW XIV. Butterbean made his name as Super Heavyweight boxer and even had a boxing match at WrestleMania 14 against Bart Gunn. Pudzianowski made short work of Esch, taking him down early in the first round and then making him submit from punches. However, it’s not as simple as that as many people are saying the fight was fixed and Esch was fed to Pudzianowski in a bid to raise his profile.
I’ll let you judge for yourself, watch and see what you think.
In the fights I’ve seen Esch involved he’s never been very good once on the floor, and he is getting on a bit. Despite having some early success against credible opponents, he’s been a bit of a freak show attraction in recent years. Whether Pudzianowski’s punches had enough power to make anyone submit has been the topic of many an argument in the MMA world, what do you think?
What is evident is the weight loss and muscle mass that has disappeared from Pudzianowski’s once Herculean frame. No doubt this was done to improve stamina but he’s hardly recognisable as the man who won World’s Strongest Man 5 times and thrilled the crowds with his feats of strength. If he were ever to compete in Strongman again, could he get back to the level he once was? I’d hazard a guess that he could, after all there are few that have ever trained as hard as Pudzianowski.
He doesn’t have another fight planned yet, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for any news, though ideally I would like him to return to the world of Strongman as I’d rather see him battling Savickas in the Farmers Walk than an old has been in an MMA ring.
I’d be very surprised if the Butterbean fight was fixed. Given that Butterbean is a horrible MMA fighter and has absolutely no ground game, once this fight got to the ground there was only one winner. Plus, Esch has higher committments, like family and running his restaurant. Getting brain damaged by Mariusz would hinder attending those two things.
Mariusz needs to get out of MMA as well. He is also a terrible fighter, by MMA standards, and his boxing coach even admitted it: http://www.boxingnews.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19300:kosedowski-obawiam-si-bardzo&catid=1:latest-news#yvComment (it is in polish).
Thanks for the interview link, Google translated it for me
You know what MMA fans are like on the internet – they don’t like anyone who hasn’t trained for years in MMA and done it the usual way. Brock Lesnar coming from pro wresling and being successful has always annoyed MMA fans, I’m sure it’s the same with Mariusz. There’s nowhere really for Mariusz to go with MMA as he’s only ever going to have success in KSW against poor opponents.
It is true, though I am a massive Brock Lesnar fan. For me, if a person has the abilities in the ring/cage, then I don’t mind where they’ve come from. I’m all for Mariusz picking up a paycheck, but it would be nice seeing him battle out with the new generation of strongmen.
I’m a Lesnar fan too, back in his WWE days and in UFC.
Maybe when Mariusz has finished his latest celebrity television show he’ll give some serious thought as to what he wants to do next, and hopefully it’ll be a return to Strongman.
Marius will not be returning to WSM he clearly said that in his interview.. there was a few interviews about it.. just search on youtube…. Also look how much weight and muscle mass he has lost! there is no way in hell he will go back to WSM! if he did then well… he just wont lol..
His target was 5 world titles he got them! now he has retired from WSM. sorry guys.
It’s a shame – he was a great competitor as well as a fantastic personality. I still wonder if he’ll change his mind when he realises his MMA career is never really going to go anywhere. He still runs a Strongman camp and comes to shows to support his guys – I can live in hope!
yes i know!.. the dominator made world strongest man the best it can be!! only a true fan would know that.. he was best known for his speed if im to be honest.. big z is a bit over weight so i dont see him beating marius giant farmers walk world record and i cannot remember the other one he set?? was it the suitcase? so yeah big z wants to look on setting speed times and targets to beat the last of records.. but then you also have mark felix and he is the best ad the deadlift so i dought z would beat that … but anything else he will sure rip to pieces… also you are right about the club marius owns… that dude he was with in the qualifications was pretty strong! not as strong as me ofcourse haha jokes
but i’d like to see marius’s … trainee back into action and qualify the qualification rounds and into the real thing! polish power seems to be getting better and better every year.
I would definitely like to see Szczepanski compete again next year – it looks like he has a lot of potential, and with Mariusz as a trainer I can only see good things for him.
oh yes! and hopefully he makes it through the qualifications and doesn’t cause another injury