Just six years ago, MMA fighter Aaron Aby was diagnosed with cancer and told he likely wouldn’t survive – now he is preparing for the fight of his life.
On Saturday 4 November, Aaron faces former UFC fighter Elias Garcia at the AO Arena in Manchester for the OKTAGON MMA Flyweight Championship. The former Wales youth footballer recognises how lucky he is to be alive, never mind fighting, after being told he could only have months left to live.
In 2017, Aaron was told that he had stage three testicular cancer after experiencing symptoms while training for a fight. He underwent surgeries, including one to remove a tumour that measured 15cm in size.
Testament to the fighter that he is, Aaron, who was also born with cystic fibrosis, was given the all-clear in March 2019 and returned to the octagon in December of that year, drawing with Daryl Grant as the main event of UK Fighting Championships 12. To Aaron, returning to competitive action was his true victory over cancer.
“My first fight back after cancer was my proudest achievement so far,” Aaron told Fen Regis Trophies. “I remember standing over the venue’s balcony I was fighting in.
“I remember looking and seeing people who had been on that journey with me. People who had cleaned up my sick, people who had walked me up the stairs if I needed them, people who had given me a kick when I was sulking.
“For me, I wasn’t cured of cancer until I got back to competing.”
Defying the Odds
Aaron has defied the odds all his life. Born with cystic fibrosis, the typical life expectancy just three decades ago was 30 years old. Aged 33, the Wrexham fighter, who has a 15-7-1 record, will look to defy the odds once again when he takes on Garcia, whose only two career defeats have come in the UFC.
“This is the biggest fight of my MMA career,” said Aaron. “[Garcia]’s an experienced UFC-veteran and he’s competed with the best.”
The Wrexham man is under no illusions as to the size of the challenge he must overcome if he is to take the championship belt home with him, but Aaron believes it could be a special night in Manchester.
“I don’t believe in fairytales,” he said. “However, if I could write a fairytale ending…I feel like this is the opportunity to go and make it.
“It’s almost like it’s me versus Elias Garcia, but it’s not. It’s me versus me. Me versus everything I have ever been through and it is my opportunity to write that movie ending that, at times, I thought didn’t exist.
“It’s going to be the main event on the biggest promotion at the AO Arena, and this is my opportunity.
“This is my chance and I’m doing everything I can, not just in this fight camp, but all my life to go and grab something like this.”
Teaming with Bale and Ramsey
Before Aaron’s uncle, Julian, first introduced him to the world of MMA, Aaron was a gifted young footballer and was picked alongside the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale for Wales at youth level. Though his career would follow a different path, he says he learned a lot from his former teammates.
“They had a great attitude and desire to improve,” said Aaron. “I can remember Neil Taylor, who ended up having a great career, doing extras after training and those sorts of things stuck with me.
“Those were the sorts of things I took into my career because I was the same. I used to get up and go running before school as a 12-year-old and go and do extra ball drills.
“I would say I was similar to them, and it was the same for Aaron Ramsey and people like that, having that ability and desire to want to do more.”
While Bale and Ramsey have gone on to become household names, Aaron hopes to add his own chapter into Welsh sporting history by writing his own fairytale ending. You can watch Aaron compete for the OKTAGON MMA Flyweight Championship on Saturday night with the full card streamed by Channel 4.
By Aaron Gratton
