Baczynski

By Kelsey Mowatt

This time last year, Seth Baczynski was not far removed from a knockout win over Simeon Thoresen at UFC 152, which was the Power MMA welterweight’s sixth straight win. As the veteran headed into his next bout with the rugged Mike Pierce, people were taking notice of the comeback run Baczynski was on, following his initial release from the UFC in 2010.

Unfortunately for the 32 year-old, however, Baczynski lost by decision to Pierce, and then this past July he was knocked out by Brian Melancon. While some fighters might have a tough time regrouping from the setbacks, the near 30 fight vet has turned things around before.

“It’s always tough to lose but it’s part of the game,” Baczynski noted on Full Contact Fighter Radio. “I say to people all the time; I’m not going to change the way I fight, and I’m not going to change who I am.”

“When I got into this game I fought because it was fun,” furthered Baczynski, who was let go by the UFC in the summer of 2010, following a unanimous decision loss to Brad Tavares. “I never thought that I was just going to get beat, or I sucked, but I always thought ‘man, that was a lot of fun.’ I fell in love with the sport…Having those previous experiences in my life have helped me be realistic with myself, stay humble, and know that just because you lost doesn’t mean you’re terrible.”

Seth Baczynski (photo via UFC.com)

Case in point, not only did Baczynski win six straight bouts before his recent losses, but he recorded three knockouts during the run as well as two submission victories. One of the tap-out wins handed Matt Brown his fourth loss in five fights, but the punishing welterweight has now won six straight to move into the division’s top ten rankings.

“If Tom Brady loses one weekend, they’re not like, ‘oh, Tom Brady’s a bum, get rid of him,” Baczynski noted. “But in fighting you’re only as good as your last fight and only the fighters, and all the people involved in the game, actually know that you can lose and still be really good. There’s stylistic match-ups; there’s all kind of stuff going on.

“So I try not to worry about all the logistics about that stuff and just try to worry about myself,” the Arizona fighter furthered. “Worry about things I can control. I can only control myself; I can only control the stuff I work on and I can only control what I need to get better on. I can’t worry about my opponent. I can’t worry about any of the other stuff, because all that’s nothing I can change anyways.”

At UFC Fight Night 31 on November 6th, Baczynski (18-10) will look to get back on the winning track by defeating Neil Magny (8-2). The latter is coming off a submission loss to Sergio Moraes at UFC 163, after scoring a unanimous decision win over Jon Manley at UFC 157.

“You know it’s just like any other fight in the UFC; it’s going to be a tough fight. I don’t take anyone for granted,” said Baczynski, when asked for an assessment of Magny’s abilities. “There’s a lot of information to process in a short period of time…There’s a lot going on. You’ve got to be sharp. You’ve got to work really hard for everybody, because one mistake can cost you the fight.”

The November 6th “Fight for the Troops” card will be hosted by Fort Campbell in Kentucky, and will feature middleweight Tim Kennedy taking Rafael Natal in the main event.