From the boxing ring to Fame MMA? The true face of Krzysztof "Diablo" Włodarczyk

Włodarczyk does not cite studies but shares an observation: 'children terribly soften a person'. He describes that since becoming a father, his priorities have changed – from a fighter who wanted a championship to a man who wants to pick up his daughter from kindergarten and go to the theater with her. This role change means he cannot summon aggression when at home. Isolation thus became a necessary ritual. He confirms that after returning to training, when he misses his family, this longing turns into sporting anger that helps him in sparring.

Włodarczyk recounts in detail how, after spraining his ankle at coach Mirek Okniński's, he tore the ligament connecting the fibula and tibia. Despite this, he was forced to prepare for an MMA fight. He couldn't stand in shoes, so he warmed up only while standing. For the first days, movement was impossible, later he moved to faster walking with tape and an orthosis, which he still uses today. In wrestling matches, he was forced to tap out at every leg grab. He emphasizes that he preferred to limit training rather than go straight under the knife. He describes that even now, during warm-up, the first minutes are very painful, but then he can run.

Włodarczyk says that he often meets people who want to check 'if he is tough'. They say to him 'Hit me', trying to extort an attack. He, however, avoids confrontation, turns around and walks away. The only time he got out of the car after a road conflict, it involved a calm conversation with a driver who was carrying children. 'let them not test themselves', because 'a good punch from a boxer ... is not a good result for the receiver'. He also recounts his story from the age of 17, when in self-defense he hit an attacker, resulting in him being taken away by ambulance and having his jaw wired shut – since then, he knows how dangerous his punch can be.

Włodarczyk explains that these young people who take part in freak fights are 'deeply lost', cannot find themselves and seek acceptance in pathological forms of competition. He compares it to a circus: 'You go to the circus and also say Listen, this clown is ... some kind of alien ... but it is we who create this show by entering this octagon'. He believes that an athlete differs from a 'freak fight' participant in that the latter 'thinks he is a fighter and he can compete with me or with any other athlete'. In his opinion, they lack a good means and direction. Despite this, he does not change his mind about the lack of self-respect among participants and fans who insult each other.

He describes that at the moment of hearing the sentence, 'the world was collapsing, as if I had lost some part of myself'. Previously, he only visited prisons to talk about sports, he never imagined he would end up there himself. He compares the period of isolation to entering a closed door into a black room, where you count every spoonful of soup. Only 5 weeks before the end of the sentence, when he started going out to work, 'the head began to decompress'. He considers it a sign from the universe, telling him to slow down: 'there is no need to rush, there are children to raise'. Despite bitterness towards the system, which in his opinion is unjust (he cites, among others, the case of Tomasz Hajto, who fatally hit a woman and did not go to prison), he tries to find a positive lesson in it.

Włodarczyk claims that children terribly soften a person, changing priorities: 'you come home to cuddle ... she still gives her little hand, kisses ... to soften up that son of a bitch, pardon the expression, who comes to training and you have to fight someone there'. He describes that being at home before a fight, he thinks 'well, in two hours I'll be fighting', and instead of aggression he feels tenderness. That's why he developed a model similar to Lennox Lewis or Dariusz Michalczewski: he leaves 1–2 weeks before the start to a center, which causes in him 'a bit of anger, a bit of rage' combined with longing, which paradoxically helps him in the fight. He notes that not everyone can function like this – he cites Jan Błachowicz, whose family visit in the USA before a fight negatively affected his performance. 'you can't do it ... you are, you could say, getting emotional ... you have to be either heartless or soulless or I don't know what to have in your head to extract aggression from yourself like that'.