Mateusz Gamrot shared his views comparing Poland favorably to the United States across multiple dimensions. He described Poland as cleaner, safer, more modern in everyday conveniences, and more hospitable than America. Gamrot recounted experiences in US restaurants being surprised by payment technology Poland had implemented a decade earlier, and criticized superficial American social interactions. He described attending barbecues where he would have gone hungry if he hadn't brought his own food, contrasting this with Polish hospitality. Gamrot acknowledged the US offers advantages for sports careers but argued life quality is not necessarily better there. He noted his children, despite being in Florida near beaches and palm trees, expressed wanting to return to their grandmother in Poland.
Mateusz Gamrot has gone on record with a pointed comparison between his home country of Poland and the United States, coming down firmly in favor of life back home across several measures of everyday quality.
The 35-year-old lightweight, who holds a professional record of 26 wins and 4 losses and is currently ranked tenth in the UFC's 155-pound division, trains out of American Top Team in Florida and therefore has direct experience living in the United States. That proximity, however, has not softened his view of America relative to Poland. Gamrot described Poland as cleaner, safer, and more modern in terms of daily conveniences, recounting his surprise at encountering payment technology in US restaurants that Poland had already normalized roughly a decade earlier.
His sharpest criticism was reserved for social culture. Gamrot characterized American friendliness as surface-level, and illustrated the point with a story about attending barbecues where, he said, he would have gone hungry without bringing his own food — a stark contrast, in his telling, to the generosity he associates with Polish hospitality.
Gamrot did acknowledge that the United States holds real advantages for an athlete pursuing a combat sports career at the highest level, which he cited as his practical reason for being there. But he pushed back firmly on any assumption that living in America means a better quality of life in broader terms.
Why it matters
- Gamrot's comments reflect a growing conversation among European UFC fighters about the trade-offs of relocating to train in the US
- As a top-ten lightweight with a takedown rate of 5.15 per fifteen minutes and striking accuracy of 51 percent, Gamrot carries enough profile for his off-octagon views to draw attention
- His remarks about his children wanting to return to their grandmother in Poland add a personal dimension that goes beyond professional calculation
