Later this year, it’ll be a full 10 years since Krzysztof Soszynski last fought.
The Poland-born Canadian spent only a little more than eight years fighting, including his final three or so in the UFC. But over his career, he fought nearly 40 times. Of his 12 losses, six were by knockout.
Those KO numbers aren’t staggering compared to many of his contemporaries, but Soszynski thinks he left at just the right time. A few years after his final fight, he said he was having memory troubles that started after the bout, and that sealed the deal for him.
Soszynski stays busy now with the occasional acting role, as well as commentary duties in his native Poland for KSW. But when it comes to second-guessing his decision to retire, he said he’s comfortable with hanging the gloves up when he did.
“Don’t get me wrong – the knees are pretty bad, (but) the mind is very strong still,” Soszynski recently told MMA Junkie. “So I’m very happy – I don’t have any of these crazy symptoms that a lot of these (former fighters) are having. I have been working with a lot of doctors and people who are in that field to help me regenerate all the tissues and connective tissues with my brain. So I’m very happy with all the peptides and things like that that I’m taking, supplements and things like that.
“I’m not dealing with all of these major issues like some of these fighters. Plus, I feel like I left (fighting) at the right time. My brain told me stop fighting. My family told me it was time to stop fighting. And I said yes, it’s time to stop fighting. I’m very fortunate to stop at the right time and continue on living an amazing life. I’m 43 years old and I feel like … it’s Chapter 2 – a brand new journey, and I’m having a blast doing it.”
Soszynski also said he’s been experimenting with psychedelic substances, too, for their purported positive effect for some people who have experienced brain trauma.
According to many medical industry reports and studies, psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms – “magic mushrooms” – and even LSD have shown positive effects on patients with brain trauma.
“I have been doing some self-(medication) – LSD micro-dosing, and micro-dosing some psilocybin mushrooms and things like that on a very, very small scale,” Soszynski said. “I’ve been doing that for quite a while. And to be honest, I just had my first ayahuasca experience, and all those things are absolutely amazing. They definitely make you see the world in a different way – very small, minuscule differences, but you feel happier, you feel more energized, you feel like you want to get up and do things.
“I feel normal and beautiful at the same time. It’s definitely the future … You hear a lot of studies of guys who have been in the military or have post-traumatic stress disorder, and those kinds of things are really helping.”
Krzysztof Soszynski says psychedelics helping brain post-fighting career, hopes they’re ‘the future’
