Mariusz Pudzianowski openly admits that his MMA career is coming to an end.
The five-time World’s Strongest Man shocked everyone by launching a fight career in 2009.
16 years later, the 48-year-old boasts a 27-fight record, which includes high-profiles wins over Butterbean, Bob Sapp, and Rolles Gracie Jr.
However, Mariusz Pudzianowski‘s MMA run seemingly ended in devasatating fashion when he suffered a stunning knockout loss against former heavyweight boxer Artur Szpilka in June 2023.
Mariusz Pudzianowski admits retirement is near
Now Pudzianowski is back and he’s set to face fellow former World’s Strongest Man, Eddie Hall, in Gliwice, Poland, on Saturday night.
The gigantic heavyweight’s recently shared an awkward first run-in ahead of their fight, which could is being billed as the ‘strongest’ in MMA history.
Pudzianowski is trying to steer clear of pre-fight retirement talk, but he admits his career is almost over.
“At the moment, I’m not focusing on what is going to happen in the future,” he said during a pre-fight Q&A with KSW. “I’m concentrating on my fight in Gliwice on April 26th.
“However, I’m nearing the end of my career, the end of this episode called ‘sport’ and, at some point, I will have to start a normal life.
“I’m certainly going to keep training, but no longer as a professional athlete.
“We’ll see what happens next.”
Eddie Hall recieves ominous pre-fight warning
For the past year, Hall has been training with interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
Still, Pudzianowski thinks the 37-year-old is in for a rude awakening when they fight this weekend.
He added: “Eddie, you’re in for a lot of hard work.
“I’m not going to give up easily. You know it well that I fight until the very end.
“You’re about to see what lack of oxygen means. This is not boxing, this is MMA.”