Mariusz Pudzianowski put in his time as a World’s Strongest Man competitor and took the title of World’s Strongest Man five times.

In 2009, Pudzianowski decided to take on a new challenge and stepped in the world of mixed martial arts.

For his first professional MMA fight, Pudzianowski was matched up against Marcin Najman, who also was making his MMA debut. The two met at the KSW 12 – Najman vs. Pudzianowski event on December 11, 2009.

It was a short fight for the professional debut of both Najman and Pudzianowski as the five-time World’s Strongest Man blasted Najman with some powerful leg kicks and got Najman to the floor in a flurried attack. Pudzianowski followed up with a powerful flurry of ground and pound strikes that forced the referee to call an end to the bout at just 43 seconds of the very first round.

Given that it was Pudzianowski’s first professional fight, the former strongman competitor did not stop there. Pudzianowski has been active ever since making his debut and now holds a 9-5 professional MMA record. The former World’s Strongest Man is set to fight Pawel Mikolajuw at the KSW 37 event scheduled to take place on December 3.

Pudzianowski is coming off a two-fight losing streak after picking up four wins in a row including wins over former UFC heavyweights Sean McCorkle, Rolles Gracie, and Oli Thompson who fought against Matt Mitrione in Bellator this year.

Najman also had more professional MMA fights following his quick debut but unfortunately did not find success until his fourth fight against Michal Dobias. Najman has not fought professionally since the win over Dobias, which was back in December of 2014.

What are your thoughts on the five-time World’s Strongest Man and his transition to mixed martial arts? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment!