Baczynski (photo via UFC.com)

By Kelsey Mowatt

Although the landscape of MMA has begun to resettle, after being rocked by the cancellation of UFC 151, the ripple effects of its unexpected demise are still being felt. Whether it was their own bout that was postponed, or a fight of their teammates,  many UFC competitors didn’t have to look far to find someone who was affected.

Case in point is Seth Baczynski, who although his upcoming September 22nd bout with Simeon Thoresen went untouched, the veteran was impacted by the card’s cancellation nonetheless.

“I was super bummed for Tim (Means),” said Baczynski, whose training partner saw his September 1st bout with Abel Trujillo bumped to December 8th. “He works really hard and is a super good teammate, so I felt really bad for him because I know how excited he was to go fight.”

In addition, the UFC 152 card in Toronto that will feature Baczynski versus Thoresen will now include a bout between Jon Jones and Vitor Belfort, which even the  world’s best psychics didn’t see coming.

“I was just in shock,” Baczynski relayed to Full Contact Fighter. “First off, I couldn’t believe that they cancelled it, and then second of all I couldn’t believe Jones refused to fight…I didn’t know what to think.”

Baczynski (photo credit: Rod Mar / ESPN.com)

Like the rest of the MMA world, Baczynski is ready to move forward, and in his immediate future is the aforementioned fight with Thoresen. The Norwegian fighter will be stepping into the Octagon for a second time when he faces Baczynski, after tapping out Besam Yousef at a UFC on FUEL card in April.

“I didn’t know who they were going to give me, and we looked him up a little bit,” said Baczynski. “All the fighters know that just because he isn’t a well known name doesn’t mean he isn’t good.”

“I was also excited to get a fight in Canada,” Baczynski added. “They have great MMA fans up there and I haven’t met a lame Canadian yet. It’s always a fun place to go fight. I’m excited to be on that card.”

The 28 year-old Thoresen has gone 8-1-1 in his last 10 fights, and seven of his wins during that stretch have come via submission.

“There’s always things in people’s games that you’re going to have to adjust too,” said Baczynski. “That’s one of the coolest things about MMA. You get around your coaches and break down how you’re going to win that chess match. There’s definitely some things on the ground that are concerning, but, I’m prepared for him just like I’ve been for any other guy I’ve faced in my career.”

“We saw some things in his game where if you sit in one area for too long, you can get caught in some bad situations,” the 30 year-old, Power MMA fighter added. “The thing that’s going to be awkward for me is usually I don’t fight guys as tall and rangy as I am….being that I’ve been training with a bunch of tall and skinny partners, I think I’m going to be okay with it.”

Thoresen (17-2) will face Baczynski (17-8) at a time when he’s firing on all cylinders, as the welterweight has now won five straight fights since exiting from the UFC briefly in 2010.

“I think the success I’ve been having, a big part is my teammates and coaches at Power MMA,” said Baczynski, who has scored wins over Clay Harvison, Matt Brown and Lance Benoist after returning to the UFC last year. “They do a great job of bring in fighters, but they’ve got a bunch of wrestlers, and wrestling is such a tight community. They’re always working out whenever they’re in town from other colleges, and the addition of the FIT NHB team, and all those guys coming down, gives you all these different looks….I believe it just makes you a better fighter.”