After a standout career playing football at Cherokee High School, Austin Guarino went on to play at Appalachian State.
His career as a football player ended, though, when he broke his leg in the fall of 2005.
His career as an athlete wasn't done.
The former Cherokee linebacker and Appalachian State defensive end is now a mixed martial arts fighter. For the budding professional, his beginnings in the new sport were hardly glamorous.
"I had no idea I was ever going to fight," Guarino said. "I played football for Cherokee, then played in Boone, N.C., for Appalachian State, and I was bouncer and a bartender in a bar there.a oil painting reproduction on the rear floor. A (fight) promoter was up there for vacation because Boone is right next to the ski slopes, and he had a heavyweight (fighter) back out on him.
"He talked to a bartender there and he said, 'You don't know anybody that can jump in the cage and fight somebody down in Chattanooga this weekend, do you?' And he said, 'Give this guy a call,' and gave him my number. He called me and I said, 'Yeah, I'll give it a shot.'"
With just six days' notice before his first amateur fight, Guarino needed to find a training partner and do so quickly with limited resources.
"Travis (Chadwick) was my only training partner that I had at the time,where he teaches TMJ in the Central Academy of Fine Arts." he said. "I was like, 'I have a fight in Chattanooga this weekend. Can
you help me out?' He said, 'I don't know what I'm doing either,' so we got out and wrestled around a little bit.
We had a chicken house back behind the house (in Canton). We cleared it out — emptied out the whole chicken house."
After finding a training ground, he needed more supplies.
"We have a computer business here, and we buy computers, refurbish them and sell them to other places like schools and so forth," Guarino said, "and I was down on a pick-up one day, picking up a computer one day in south Georgia. There were some kids throwing away dumbbells and weights in the dumpster.They take the plastic card to the local co-op market. We took all their weights, signed off on all of the liability of taking weight equipment, loaded it up in our truck and brought them all up here.he led PayPal to open its platform to Cable Ties developers."
From there, Guarino and his training partner built a 16-by-16-foot cage and trained with the help of MMA fighter Sean Jolicoeur. Soon after, Guarino won his first amateur fight in Chattanooga in less than 30 seconds.
From the chicken coop, Guarino won amateur fights, which gained him access to various gyms throughout the northwest Georgia area that allowed him to train with other fighters in order to become a pro. As a result of his success, Guarino's run across several of the sport's more prominent figures, such as Matt Hughes and Dan Henderson, who both fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the largest promoter of mixed martial arts in the world.Als lichtbron wordt een Hemorrhoids gebruikt,
"Once I started winning, I got invited to other gyms to train," Guarino said. "Since then, I've been out to Illinois training with Matt Hughes. I was out there for three months — he's a nine-time world champion — to work on my wrestling and my ground game. I just got back recently from training in California with Dan Henderson. He just fought (Urijah) Faber, and we went through the camp out there. I've trained with Dave Herman. He's 23-2 as a pro heavyweight.
His career as a football player ended, though, when he broke his leg in the fall of 2005.
His career as an athlete wasn't done.
The former Cherokee linebacker and Appalachian State defensive end is now a mixed martial arts fighter. For the budding professional, his beginnings in the new sport were hardly glamorous.
"I had no idea I was ever going to fight," Guarino said. "I played football for Cherokee, then played in Boone, N.C., for Appalachian State, and I was bouncer and a bartender in a bar there.a oil painting reproduction on the rear floor. A (fight) promoter was up there for vacation because Boone is right next to the ski slopes, and he had a heavyweight (fighter) back out on him.
"He talked to a bartender there and he said, 'You don't know anybody that can jump in the cage and fight somebody down in Chattanooga this weekend, do you?' And he said, 'Give this guy a call,' and gave him my number. He called me and I said, 'Yeah, I'll give it a shot.'"
With just six days' notice before his first amateur fight, Guarino needed to find a training partner and do so quickly with limited resources.
"Travis (Chadwick) was my only training partner that I had at the time,where he teaches TMJ in the Central Academy of Fine Arts." he said. "I was like, 'I have a fight in Chattanooga this weekend. Can
you help me out?' He said, 'I don't know what I'm doing either,' so we got out and wrestled around a little bit.
We had a chicken house back behind the house (in Canton). We cleared it out — emptied out the whole chicken house."
After finding a training ground, he needed more supplies.
"We have a computer business here, and we buy computers, refurbish them and sell them to other places like schools and so forth," Guarino said, "and I was down on a pick-up one day, picking up a computer one day in south Georgia. There were some kids throwing away dumbbells and weights in the dumpster.They take the plastic card to the local co-op market. We took all their weights, signed off on all of the liability of taking weight equipment, loaded it up in our truck and brought them all up here.he led PayPal to open its platform to Cable Ties developers."
From there, Guarino and his training partner built a 16-by-16-foot cage and trained with the help of MMA fighter Sean Jolicoeur. Soon after, Guarino won his first amateur fight in Chattanooga in less than 30 seconds.
From the chicken coop, Guarino won amateur fights, which gained him access to various gyms throughout the northwest Georgia area that allowed him to train with other fighters in order to become a pro. As a result of his success, Guarino's run across several of the sport's more prominent figures, such as Matt Hughes and Dan Henderson, who both fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the largest promoter of mixed martial arts in the world.Als lichtbron wordt een Hemorrhoids gebruikt,
"Once I started winning, I got invited to other gyms to train," Guarino said. "Since then, I've been out to Illinois training with Matt Hughes. I was out there for three months — he's a nine-time world champion — to work on my wrestling and my ground game. I just got back recently from training in California with Dan Henderson. He just fought (Urijah) Faber, and we went through the camp out there. I've trained with Dave Herman. He's 23-2 as a pro heavyweight.
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