Aaron Steele is ready to defend his belt at VFC 37
When Steele steps into the VFC cage on April 13th, it will have been 14 months since his last fight, while Wilk has gone 5-1 to work his way back into title contention. Aaron not fighting hasn't been his choice though. There were some scheduling conflicts with the rematch, and a couple of other fight Aaron tried to book ended up falling through. Plus there was his traveling to compete in grappling tournaments.
"I fought in a very high level tournament in Brazil, submission and Jiu-Jitsu in the kimono as well. Bot a couple Bronze medals in that. That was one of the hardest tournaments I've ever done. And then did the World no-gi and got a silver and a bronze in that. And I just won two golds at NAGA in Oklahoma City. I've been competing heavily in submission jiu-jitsu and grappling."
It's obvious that, while Aaron loves being a mixed martial artist, his discipline of choice is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The path that eventually led him to being a professional MMA fighter all started with one DVD.
"A friend of mine showed me a video call Choke. A documentary of Rickson Gracie's fights in Japan. I saw it and was hooked, his philosophies, the way he approached fighting. I was totally absorbed into it. The first martial arts class I ever went to Steve Jennum was teaching it. He taught me a single leg takedown and I've never stopped."
With the extensive time between fights, there are some people out there who put Steele at disadvantage coming into this rematch. Aaron obviously isn't one of those people. While he feels there are certain benefits to being an active fighter, he feels his extensive training time is what may give him the edge on April 13th.
"By no means does fighting make you a more skillful fighter. Training makes you a more skillful fighter. When you're constantly fighting, you have less time to practice what you're not good at. When you're constantly fighting, you're training what you're good at so you can win with what you're good at. In certain cases it(being an active fighter) can help, mentally, as far as experience is concerned, and confidence. But as far as skill, training is where it's at."
While Aaron believes training time is more important than fight time when it comes to improving as a mixed martial artist, he is under no illusion that this is going to be as easy fight. He knows that Wilk always comes into the cage ready for a fight and he's preparing for a five round war. Steele feels it will be another fast paced fight, with both fighters constantly looking for submissions and knockouts. But, when asked, he does feel the end result will be the same as before, and he will be the one walking out with the VFC belt at the end of the night.
"I think it's going to be real similar to the first fight. It's just going to be a little harder for him to do what he did well and it may be a little harder for me to do what I did well. I think it's going to be a real, real similar fight. I don't like to make predictions, honestly. I agree with what Bruce Lee said that you don't think about winning or losing you just let nature take its course."
April 13th Aaron Steele will finally have the opportunity to get back into the VFC cage and defend his belt. When the bell rings and he and Joe Wilk "let nature take its course", there will be a hurricane unleashed inside the VFC cage at the Mid America Center. That Friday night, Steele plans on showing everyone what it means to be a VFC champion.
Aaron Steele is sponsored by: XS Energy Drinks, A-Plus Heartland construction, Infrared Omaha, Disorderly Conduct, Anytime Fitness,
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