In the relatively short amount of time that Krzysztof Soszynski spent in MMA, he took a pretty good amount of damage. Apparently he has been delving into the world of psychedelics to help offset some of that brain damage.
Soszynski spent just 8 years fighting, but that did not stop him from making it to the UFC. A semi-finalist on The Ultimate Fighter, he went 6-3 in the promotion before retiring in 2011, after getting knocked out in 35 seconds.
Start to finish, Krzysztof did not spend much time competing, but in that time he had an outrageous 37 fights, not including those on TUF. A lot of those were wars that saw him getting finished with strikes on six occasions.
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Krzysztof Soszynski Retired At The Right Time
Nowadays, Krzysztof Soszynski spends his time commentating and acting. However just because he did not compete for too long does not mean he left the sport unscathed.
Speaking in a recent interview, the Polish-Canadian explained that he is dealing with both physical and mental effects of combat, but that things could have been worse if he stuck around any longer than he did.
“Don’t get me wrong – the knees are pretty bad, (but) the mind is very strong still,” Soszynski said.
“So I’m very happy – I don’t have any of these crazy symptoms that a lot of these (former fighters) are having. I have been working with a lot of doctors and people who are in that field to help me regenerate all the tissues and connective tissues with my brain. So I’m very happy with all the peptides and things like that that I’m taking, supplements and things like that.
“I’m not dealing with all of these major issues like some of these fighters. Plus, I feel like I left (fighting) at the right time.
“My brain told me stop fighting. My family told me it was time to stop fighting. And I said yes, it’s time to stop fighting. I’m very fortunate to stop at the right time and continue on living an amazing life.
“I’m 43 years old and I feel like … it’s Chapter 2 – a brand new journey, and I’m having a blast doing it.”
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Psychedelics Are The Future
While Krzysztof Soszynski credits the timing of his retirement for the fact that things are not as bad as they could be, there is something else that has been helping, at least with the mental aspect: psychedelics.
He explained that doing various types of hallucinogens in microdoses has helped him with his outlook and the struggles of the brain trauma he received.
“I have been doing some self-(medication) – LSD micro-dosing, and micro-dosing some psilocybin mushrooms and things like that on a very, very small scale,” Soszynski said. “I’ve been doing that for quite a while. And to be honest, I just had my first ayahuasca experience, and all those things are absolutely amazing. They definitely make you see the world in a different way – very small, minuscule differences, but you feel happier, you feel more energized, you feel like you want to get up and do things.
“I feel normal and beautiful at the same time. It’s definitely the future … You hear a lot of studies of guys who have been in the military or have post-traumatic stress disorder, and those kinds of things are really helping.”
There has been research suggesting that psychedelics can have benefits to those who have suffered brain trauma. Regardless it seems like something that is working for Krzysztof Soszynski, and that is all that matters.
