MMA: Power of the knockout lands Ben Sosoli a spot on the Ultimate Fighter season 28

Ben Sosoli. Photo / Getty

Not everyone believes everything happens for a reason, but an accident in one of his first MMA fights changed the game for Ben Sosoli.

A former rugby player in South Auckland, Sosoli suffered a leg injury that saw him require surgery to repair. After being out of action and putting on weight, he looked for a sport with less running and took up MMA.

He used his tackling skills from rugby in the ring to take down his opponents and work on the mat, but soon found a more efficient way to get the job done.

"I used to just have all my fights on the ground, I would just look for takedowns straight away," Sosoli told the Herald.

"It was all on the ground until I knocked out this guy by accident. I wasn't looking and I just swung my hand to set up for a takedown. I looked up and he was falling down so I thought 'oh, I want to try learning how to do that instead'. That was easier than just working on the ground the whole time and trying to grind out a decision win."

He began to take inspiration from fellow South Aucklander Mark Hunt - who has had an impressive career with the UFC as a dangerous striker after the company initially tried to buy out his contract when they took over Pride (the promotion Hunt was signed with) in 2007.

Embracing the art of the knockout worked wonders for the 28-year-old father of five, who was in Auckland visiting family the week after starring in the latest season of the UFC's Ultimate Fighter competition.

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After growing up in South Auckland and finding his calling in the sport at Auckland MMA, Sosoli moved to Melbourne in 2014 to continue his career. Training with UFC veteran Dan Kelly and newly contracted UFC light heavyweight Jim Crute, the Sydney-born heavyweight has posted a 6-2-0 professional record, with five wins by knockout. After a slow start in Australia, Sosoli said in the last couple of years, everything's "been steamrolling along".

"Me and Jimmy were kind of on the same trajectory coming up through the local scene," he said. "When we first started training together, his striking wasn't that good and my groundwork was nowhere near as good as his so it was good for us to work together.

"I know if I need to I can go down to the ground, but I enjoy standing up more – and it's more entertaining to watch."

He began to see the UFC as a realistic option last year, and had planned to try to get a contract with a couple more good wins on the local scene, but the opportunity to appear on the Ultimate Fighter arose.

Sosoli was drafted with the first pick for UFC No.3 middleweight Kelvin Gastelum's team for the Ultimate Fighter – which is currently airing. He admitted he was hoping to be a member of the opposing team – which was coached by middleweight champion Robert Whittaker – who also has deep roots with New Zealand and Australia but soon realised Gastelum's team was a better fit for his abilities. He got a tattoo with the rest of his team as a keepsake with the words 'TUF 28' inside the outline of an octagon etched into the skin over his ribcage.

During his time on set, he had the opportunity to train and spar with not only his coach, but also No. 3 ranked light heavyweight Ilir Latifi and No. 6 welterweight Kamaru Usman.

"It was good that I could go and see what my level was like compared to guys from different parts of the world."