Las Vegas — Polish Judoka Iwo Baraniewski, who captured a bronze medal at the World Championships in his original sport, is undefeated in MMA, 2-0 in the UFC, and has never left the opening round.
That has brought him to UFC Vegas 118 this Saturday, where he takes on Junior Tafa, a former heavyweight who has found a new home at 205lbs.
Tafa wasn’t the originally scheduled opponent for Baraniewski, however, but rather stepped up when Billy Elekana pulled out. That led to “little changes” in training camp, the Polish star explained this week, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press.
“Little changes, because we must change my sparring partners, and little style of my fight, but everything is normal,” the 8-0 Baraniewski stated.
He recognizes, not surprisingly, the danger the hard-hitting Tafa possesses. “He’s a dangerous striker, he has heavy hands and I must be careful the first part of the fight.”
So will he brawl as he has in his UFC fights thus far, and get things done inside of a round once again? “Maybe not, maybe I might keep safe my head,” suggested Baraniewski.
Later, he added that “maybe I show you my grabbling skills, maybe we do the brawl but I will be careful about my head. I did a lot of work in this preparation in my blocks, in my movement, so I will be ready.”
As far as keeping his first-round finishing streak alive, Baraniewski isn’t sweating it. “I don’t feel any pressure. I know what I must do, and that’s all.”
“I would like to go this way, like Joanna,” he stated, adding “I would like to lead the next Polish UFC champion.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 118 media day appearance by Iwo Baraniewski above.
