Only people who don’t know me would think that not winning by KO against Kawaguchi would discourage me before the Tim Sylvia fight in Worcester. I will be there May 21, stronger and better than ever. I needed a MMA lesson and I got one. The worst case scenario would be winning against Kawaguchi in 60 seconds and not going through this whole two round ordeal, not having a full ten minutes of MMA School. Now I know what should be done to win. I was very close to knocking him out a couple of times in the first minute, but I didn’t take my time to recognize what was going on and finish Yusuke with one or two full power punches. I decided to go for more shots with less power. It was an error that somebody who is learning the sport would make, but I’m a very quick learner and will prove it against Sylvia…Let all of my detractors think that, its good news. I just started with crazy speed, and you can see when I’m in the ring that I’m fighting guys half my weight. It will change; I will deliver my power with more control. I don’t care about people who don’t believe in me. I actually like to prove everybody wrong. Those are probably the same people who said that I couldn’t win against Marcin Najman, and then that Kawaguchi would certainly finish my MMA career, because he is a professional, and I’m just having fun with this sport. Nobody ever lost or won the fight talking. It’s the same situation as in 2009, when American Derek Poundstone told everybody before the World Strongest Man competition that he would destroy me, that I’m only good enough to carry his luggage. And what happened? I was second; he was fourth at the Worlds.
— Mariusz Pudzianowski, via TheGarv, responding to his critics who say he’s not ready for Tim Sylvia
I’ll admit it. I’m in the camp that doesn’t think Pudzianowski is ready to fight Tim Sylvia. Of course, I didn’t think Ray Mercer stood a chance against big Tim either, so what do I know? If Pudzianowski can pull it off, my hat’s off to him.
Tim Sylvia vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski goes down on May 21 at Moosin MMA in Worchester, Massachusetts.