EXCLUSIVE ChokeHimOut Interview: Aaron Stark
Interviews
Interviews
ChokeHimOut.com recently caught up with Team Quest fighter Aaron Stark. Aaron talked with us about his upcoming fight May 16th at the Mohegan Sun for the IFL, how he is preparing for it and what his future plans are. Aaron also talked about his college wrestling days and being part of Mensa...
C.H.O: Can you tell me about your wrestling experience and who you have wrestled for?
AS: Basically I started out wrestling when I was five years old. I continued to wrestle all the way through college when I won the state title in Oregon my senior year and I got a scholarship to go to the University of Wisconsin. I wrestled as a four year starter for them. I qualified for the NCAA's three times, although I was never an All American. My senior year I lost the last match to become an all American in double overtime so that didn't sit well with me. I did win the freestyle title at theUniversity Nationals the following year, but pretty much ended my wrestling career unsatisfied as I think many are apt to do.
C.H.O: What made you want to go from wrestling into MMA?
AS: I was a fan from the early days of the UFC. I started watching around UFC three or four. I was a big fan but at the same time I wasn't the type of guy that fought. I had never been in a street fight; I had always been kind of scared to fight people. I always thought maybe I would do okay because I had a wrestling background but it was something that was kind of foreign to me. Around 1999 I went on a trip to Poland for wrestling and Chael Sonnon was on that trip with me. I knew him somewhat because we were both from Oregon and both were in wrestling and stuff. Chael had mentioned that he was going to start fighting and kind of mentioned it to me to see if I was interested and really at that time I wasn't. I wish I would have jumped on it back then but it is what it is. After wrestling I moved back home and I missed the competition. My brother in-law Eric was a three time All American at the University of Wisconsin and wrestled along with me. Eric started doing jiu jitsu and I got interested in it and tagged along. I did jiu jitsu for about two years and did some submission wrestling tournaments and started having an interest in fighting. I went to a local amateur fighting event and at the main event one of the guys didn't show up. Randy Couture was doing the announcing for that event that night and he knew who I was from wrestling. He saw me in the audience and said "Why doesn't Aaron Stark come down here and compete". I wasn't going to do it because I had number of beers in me and wasn't in that good of shape. It really got the ball rolling in my mind as far as that goes.
C.H.O:You have two wins and two losses in the IFL so far. What lessons have you learned since fighting in the IFL?
AS: I am always trying to become a more well rounded fighter. I work on my mental preparedness for competing in front of a larger audience and some of the other shows that I have been a part of. Dealing with the ring as opposed to a cage is also important. More than anything I think it's just the same thing you get from fighting anywhere. You need to keep improving and getting better and better which I like to think I have done. I think I have improved markedly since my first fight in the IFL.
C.H.O: Your going into your next fight May 16th with an unannounced opponent as of yet. How important is this fight for you?
AS: You know there all important to me. People ask me "What are your goals in fighting", and I don't know maybe I'm just a crappy long term goal planner. I like to get the best fight that I can get, evaluate the opponent and try and bring my A game and go out there and win that fight. For me there about equal because every one of them is about the same in so far as it's the next fight that I have.
C.H.O: What areas of your game plan are you working the most right now?
AS: I've been working a lot with my submission game. Going from someone who just wants to try and dominate from the top to being a little more well rounded so that if the situation does arise, and I find myself on the bottom, I will be more equipped to deal with that. Also my striking has been a real focus point of mine. We have a new boxing coach at Team Quest and I have been working with him quite a bit, both when he is running practices and also in privates.
C.H.O: Walk me through a typical day of your training.
AS: I get up and I go to work which is about an hours drive from my home. I leave work a little early and drive another hour's drive to Team Quest. I'll do a team practice there. Usually we will do some techniques, rounds and some conditioning afterward. After that I practice what I feel I need to work on. I will go to the 24 hour fitness which I belong to and work cardio and do some weight lifting. Sometimes I will stick around and have an amateur practice at Team Quest later in the night. Sometimes that gives me a little bit of a chance to work with guys that maybe aren't quite as experienced as the guys that are there during the pro practice. It gives me openings to work on stuff that maybe I don?t have down pat just yet.
C.H.O: I read that you are a member of Mensa. What do your fellow Mensa members think about you fighting in MMA?
AS: I have no idea I have never been to a meeting. All Mensa is, is basically an organization that the only requirement for membership is that you score in the top two percent of the population in IQ. I just kind of did it on a whim. I really haven't done anything with it. When you think about it, it's actually kind of a bizarre group (laughs).
C.H.O: Tell me what the future holds for you.
AS: I came off with some injuries in 2007 and I was kind of down on myself. I really re-dedicated myself to training. I'm doing it every day of the week. I usually get at least two if not three workouts on the weekends. I'm just really focused on the whole aspect of fighting. With anything that you bring more dedication to, invariably there is more success.
Article by Tuesday on Apr 10, 2008