Aaron (The Boss) Bosiak is preparing for the fight of a lifetime.
The 2015 Edmonton National Mixed Martial Arts Fighter of the Year will step into the Octagon against Garret (Nasty) Nybakken for the Unified MMA lightweight (155 pounds) championship of Canada as the co-main event on the #Unified27 card June 3 at The Royal Palace in Edmonton.
“It’s a huge fight for me. I wouldn’t say it’s going to be the pinnacle of my career because I don’t plan on stopping here but as of right now this is the biggest fight of my career,” Bosiak said.
The Sturgeon Composite High School alumnus is 4-0 as a pro and Nybakken is listed at 9-7, with two TKOs, six submissions and one decision.
Both fighters train in the Campbell Business Park – Bosiak at Complete Fitness and Martial Arts “That’s my home” and Nybakken at the Hayabusa Training Centre Ltd.
“I wanted this fight just to see where I stand. He’s been a pro fighter about five years longer than I have so it’s a big test for me,” Bosiak said. “He’s decent everywhere. He’s got OK Jiu-Jitsu. He’s really gritty. He can take some heavy shots and he’s not afraid to stand in front of somebody and just trade so it’s more of a fan favourite fight than anything.”
Bosiak is 34 and Nybakken turned 35 last week.
“I’m considered ‘supposed to be retired.’ I’m the oldest fighter at Complete Fitness to my knowledge,” Bosiak said. “Garret is actually the first guy that I’m fighting that is the same age. Everybody else that I’ve fought has been 10 years younger than me.”
Bosiak described himself as a finisher. Last year he won three fights by submission: 57 seconds against Ty Collier by triangle choke Dec. 18 at Unified MMA 25, 1:22 against Justin Parsons by guillotine choke Sept. 25 at Unified MMA 24 and 39 seconds against Dell Nebbish by rear-naked choke March 20 at Unified MMA 22.
“I haven’t got to fight standing up in my career really yet but I definitely can, it’s just everybody that I’ve fought has tried to take me down and I’m pretty proficient on the ground,” said Bosiak, who won his pro debut by TKO 43 seconds in round two against Shadey Yellowbird on Sept. 26, 2014 at Unified MMA 20.
The #Unified27 card was originally scheduled for Friday but last month was moved to June 3 due to a number of unforeseen situations affecting the main card, according to Unified MMA promoters.
“When we found out (my trainers) gave me a little bit of time off and I got to have a couple of meals I don’t usually get to eat and I just got back to training,” said Bosiak, who spent over a week sharpening his skills at the storied Greg Jackson’s MMA fight camp in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “It was an unbelievable experience.”
This is week 12 for Bosiak’s training sessions.
“We started amping it up as soon as I knew it was Garret I was fighting,” said the industrial insulator at Agrium in Fort Saskatchewan. “I try and stay active when I’m not signed to fight but I had some injuries and just some nagging stuff with my body that I had to take care of so I didn’t train for couple of months after my last fight.”
Bosiak is the poster boy for lifestyle change after tipping the scales at 270 pounds and smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. He credits UFC welterweight Sheldon Westcott (10-3-1) of St. Albert as his role model.
“I lived in a duplex with him until I was 10 years old. We were side by side and he was pretty much my best friend. He’s a little bit younger than me so I was always hanging out with him. I kind of took him under my wing when he was little and then 20 years have past and now he’s a lot bigger and a lot stronger,” Bosiak said of the co-owner of Complete Fitness and Martial Arts. “I wanted to get into this before I ran back into him (at an MMA event in Edmonton) and when I did meet him and saw he was doing it, it kind of inspired me to give it a try.
“I said I wanted to fight. I told him straight up that’s what I wanted and he wasn’t a dick about it. He said there is a lot of hard work I’m going to have to do. I changed my lifestyle, I changed a lot of stuff that I did, and I guess I was willing to do that stuff because I’m here.”
Bosiak was recently floored as the recipient of the MMA fighter of the year award from the Edmonton Combative Sports Committee.
“It meant honestly the world to me. I never ever expected to win an award, especially this one. When I got into doing this I felt like I would fight once and with all my amateur fights and my pro fights this will be my eighth time I will fight. I never got into it for awards or anything like that, I just wanted to prove to myself I could do it once and I got addicted,” said the doting father of two daughters and one son with his wife, Yvonne.
