Kuba “The Accountant” Kaszuba is a professional MMA fighter and Certified Public Accountant. Originally from Olsztyn, Poland, he now lives in Jacksonville, Florida and trains at Elevate MMA. Kaszuba is now 7-0 in his pro career (12-0 overall) after securing a rear-naked choke finish in his last bout at Combat Night Pro: Tallahassee on August 20. He was gracious enough to invite us into his home for an interview leading up to the event.


GrapplerMag: What’s your cat’s name?


Kuba Kaszuba: “We just adopted her. Her name is Butter. In Polish, it’s Maslo. My girlfriend [asked], ‘Can we take care of her for two months?’ And it’s been four months, and still no financial support (laughs).” 




GM: I wanted to start with your trip, because you recently went back to Poland within the last month or two or so, right?


Kuba: “We went at the end of May for 10 days. I came back at 195 pounds. I was fat. But this trip was different, because, even though I ate a lot I was still training and lifting. That weight came off a bit easier, probably the fastest I’ve dropped weight. It was fun.”


GM: Was there a specific reason you went back this time?


Kuba: “It has been two years. I just started my job a year ago, and the year before that I was training, and doing my CPA stuff, so I just never had time to go back or money, but now I’ve started my job as an auditor for the state of Florida…I took [my girlfriend] Ashley for her first time.”


GM: How did she enjoy it?


Kuba: “She loved it, it was nice. She wants to go back, too, which makes me very happy, because I love that place. I hope she fell in love with it, too.”


GM: You said you were visiting family as well. 


Kuba: “Yeah, we went to Warsaw, we saw my dad’s family there. There’s a lot of history there. Lots of castles, museums, architecture. We visited Warsaw for two days and then went to my hometown of Olsztyn. I had my grandfather’s car, so it was easy to move around. I got to drive on Polish roads, which are way more hectic, way smaller. And just very aggressive driving, very fast. They go at least on the highway at like 80 miles per hour. I’ve seen cars go 100, 110.”


GM: Is there a place you visited that you enjoyed particularly or were happy you got to show Ashley?


Kuba: “What she actually enjoyed was Warsaw, which was surprising, because it’s very metropolitan. It’s not rural or a beach town.  But she loved my hometown, too. We went horse riding at this range right outside the city, which was beautiful. It was my first time there as an adult.” 


GM: As far as the culture or the customs, was there something when you went back that you were like, ‘Oh they don’t do this in America’ or ‘I miss this’?


Kuba: “Not really, because I see my family very often. We [still] speak Polish, we uphold the traditions. When it comes to traditions, how we do stuff it’s about the same.”


GM: How long did you live in Poland before you moved here [to the U.S.]?


Kuba: “I had my eighth birthday in the States, I believe. I did half of second grade in Poland. When I came to the States, I started in January 2004. I had zero english.

I didn’t want to go to the States at first. I had good friends…but my grandparents bought me a PlayStation 2.”


GM: That helped you transition? (laughs)


Kuba: “They said the PlayStation would be waiting. I said, ‘OK, I’ll go for a PlayStation 2. But it was different when I first came to the States. In Poland there was way more freedom as a child. We would drive our bikes around the neighborhood. There were more kids outside. We would [take] ourselves to school. Even after school, we would go outside and we would fight in the courtyard, and no one would really give a shit.

When I came here, my parents drove me to school. You’re stuck in the classroom a lot. And I got bullied a lot as a kid. A lot a lot. But you couldn’t really fight the kid. He would tell on you, or there was no place you could fight, since everyone’s watching.” 


GM: Just more rules and structure?


Kuba: Yeah, and in the apartments we lived at, there were no kids. No one to ride bikes with, so it’s like, ‘OK, I’ll go play PlayStation 2.’”  


GM: When did you start training?


Kuba: “My dad started training me with the boxing mitts in the kitchen. I remember doing drills on tile, seeing how your feet are supposed to go, where to step. He would hold pads for me, because my father finished Physical Education School in Poland. In that school they would make him learn and play every sport possible. 

In the summer he would also teach me to swim. I would go to swimming camps. I played soccer a lot as well, taekwondo. Then I think by third or fourth grade he signed me up for a kickboxing gym. That’s when I started my boxing/kickboxing career.”


GM: So it was more so your father’s influence on you that made you get into not just combat sports, but just sports in general. 


Kuba: “That’s why I’d say I’m a bit different than some fighters, because when it comes to athleticism, I wasn’t raised a fighter, I was raised an athlete. That’s how I approach my whole fighting career. I’m not some crazy fighter. Everything is very structured.” 


GM: Why did you start taekwondo?


Kuba: “We started karate in Poland. In Poland kickboxing and karate are very popular. My dad did it, too, in college. He loved it. We started taekwondo, and I started getting really good. I was winning a lot of tournaments, went to a couple national tournaments in south Florida. I’d still destroy kids there. So my dad saw I needed more in my career. That’s when we went to kickboxing.”


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