UFC 122 Fight Card: What Goran Reljic Must Do to Beat Krzysztof Soszynski

He used to be the prospect that everyone expected to excel in the UFC's 205-pound division.

Now, he's a prospect who needs a win to stay in the UFC.

When I interviewed UFC Middleweight mainstay and TUF 3 Middleweight winner Kendall "Da Spyda" Grove prior to his UFC 116 fight with Goran Reljic, the first question I asked him was about his upcoming fight.

I distinctly remember the beginning of that interview because when Grove was telling me what he knew about Relkic, he was telling me that Reljic was just a "Baby Cro Cop".

Of course, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic didn't go 8-2 in his first ten career fights, but I could see some similarities between Reljic and Filipovic.

Krzysztof Soszynski will be Reljic's eleventh opponent and this has all the makings of an interesting affair for what will be the Croatian's return to 205, after two unsuccessful outings at middleweight.

What Reljic has to remember about "The Polish Experiment", is that he's an accomplished submission specialist who, like himself, has finished the majority of his opponents by submission.

Of course, there's no substitute for experience, but some solid submission defense could help Reljic out if Soszynski attempts to finish him.

There's no telling what Soszynski goes for if the fight hits the ground and he always brings an aggressive pace when he stands and bangs. Therefore, Reljic will definitely need to have his standup at a level that is on par with Soszynski's own standup game.

If Reljic can come in better conditioned than he has looked in his past two fights (a problem that may have had something to do with the decisions he's dropped) and if he can somehow beat Soszynski at his own game in the standup and on the groud, Reljic may have done more than just beat a top-caliber light heavyweight.

He'll have saved his own ass from seeing the UFC's proverbial chopping block.