Baczynski (photo via UFC.com)

By Kelsey Mowatt

When Seth Baczynski steps into the Octagon on November 6th at UFC “Fight for the Troops” III, the veteran will take on a man in Neil Magny, who has just 10 fights compared to the 28 he’s participated in to date. Not only that, while Baczynski made his pro debut over eight years ago in August, 2005, Magny recorded his in 2010. So, in terms of experience, most people would probably conclude that there’s a decide edge for Baczynski.

While Baczynski may have fought more times in the cage, and has years of training under his belt, the 32 year-old recognizes that no fighter can rely on the experience factor in terms of winning fights. Particularly in the modern day of MMA, where most would agree the new generation of fighters are far more technically advanced and conditioned than ever before.

“I think the evolution of the sport has grown a lot and the people are a lot better,” Baczynski noted on Full Contact Fighter Radio recently. “Back when I first started there was a lot of submissions, there was a lot of laying on the ground, a lot of ground fighting. Guys weren’t too savvy on the ground, so a lot of us vets we would get out of these fights with submissions and stuff like that. Guys are just tougher to finish now. Guys are better at wrestling.”

“Everything’s getting better,” Baczynski noted later in the interview. “Everyone’s cardio is getting better, everyone’s diet is getting better, they’re lifting the right way, they’re running the right way, so there’s not a bunch of bar room brawlers anymore…they’re trained and dedicated and you have to take them all very seriously.”

Seth Baczynski

Of course it wasn’t long ago when MMA remained a fringe sport, but its continued to make inroads into mainstream society over the years. Case in point, the UFC is now a broadcasting partner with the FOX Network. In other words, the opportunities tied to MMA are far more considerable now than say ten, fifteen years ago.

“Obviously there’s more money in the sport so there’s better athletes coming into it,” Baczynski said. “Where as before there wasn’t a huge market for it. I think all those things combined make it a little bit different. The longer anything’s around the better everyone gets at it, so all these coaches and different gyms across the world are bringing up the guys in the farm leagues better.”

“When they do get to these shows, they’re not like, ‘oh, s–t, I’m fighting this really good dude’, they’re like ‘I’ve been training with really good guys’’. They’ve been doing all the right things for a really long time,” the Power MMA fighter furthered.  “Just everything in the sport’s growing. Managers are getting better at picking fights for them, the coaches are getting better at getting them ready, and the farm leagues are getting tougher, the amateur fighters are better, so the longer it’s around the better everyone gets.”

In the second part of the series with Baczynski, the fighter discusses his loss to Brian Melancon at UFC 162, as well as his upcoming, November 6th bout with Magny.