A fighter involved in one of the most bizarre stoppages in some time has now revealed why he instantly ended the bout.
Aside from a controversial call in the fight between Jake Matthews and Neil Magny, UFC Perth didn’t feature too many negative talking points regarding the results.
However, this certainly wasn’t the case for every MMA card that took place on September 27.
A fight at Babilon MMA 54 in Poland ended in just one second after Marcin Szoltysik tapped out before a single strike was thrown.
While fans were left scratching their heads, the fighter has now taken to social media to explain the reasoning behind his actions.
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Marcin Szoltysik claims his instant tap out was an act of ‘conscious rebellion’ against his team
Marcin Szoltysik’s heavyweight clash with Jacek Kujtowski ended in one of the strangest stoppages that MMA has produced in some time.
Via a post on his Instagram, translated by Matysek on X, the Polish fighter has now broken his silence to tell fans what inspired his actions in the cage.
Szoltysik describes his decision to immediately call the fight off before anything had happened as an act of “Conscious rebellion” against his team, who he believes haven’t had his best interests at heart.
“From the beginning, they deliberately didn’t support my preparations. They wanted me to be unprepared and easily replaceable. They don’t care about sport, passion, or dedication, only money and connections. They tried to turn me into ‘canon fodder’, just like they’d done with others before. I won’t let that happen.”
Szoltysik also apologized to Kujtowski and his fans for disappointing them by not fighting, stating that he had to stand up for what he believes in at that moment.
“This was my cry of protest against the lies, manipulation, and exploitation of athletes. I will not be sold. Enough is enough.”
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Babilon MMA encourages Marcin Szoltysik to ‘seek professional help’ in response to his statement
Marcin Szoltysik didn’t make reference to the Babilon MMA promotion in his statement on Instagram.
The Polish promotion did, however, comment on his post, stating that this wasn’t the time to make this point and that he should have fought in order to not impact his opponent or the fans.
Babilon MMA also produced a statement of their own via social media, telling Szoltysik that he will not fight under their umbrella again.
“Jacek Kujtkowski will receive the opponent’s compensation (as a bonus to his salary). Marcin Szołtysik will not receive further offers from us, and we encourage him to seek professional help. It’s not a shame. We apologize to the fans; we were unable to foresee this.”
Babilon MMA also thanked Szoltysik on Instagram for giving his opponent a viral moment before asking fans to submit captions for a meme of the fight.