paulbuentello

The American Dream is often been spoken about as a vehicle that motivates people to achieve success. For the last five years, Paul Buentello has been living his version of the dream by steadily climbing up mixed martial arts' highly competitive heavyweight ladder. Buentello's story is reminiscent of others who have made life-altering sacrifices in order to reach their goals. The lack of a sophisticated training center anywhere near his home in Amarillo, Texas left the aspiring champion short of training partners and proper coaching thirteen years ago when he initially tackled the fight world by competing in Pancration style bouts.

In his first official mixed martial arts contest, a single-elimination format tournament sanctioned by the International Fighting Championship (IFC), Buentello reached the championship round before losing to 6 foot 10 inch Gan "The Giant" McGee. Following his technical knockout victory over Larry Parker in his next start for the IFC, Buentello suffered a downward spiral, suffering three straight defeats. It was shortly after the third loss that the heavyweight fighter realized he would have to relocate to a place where he could prepare properly for future fights or risk the likelihood of being forced into an early retirement.

Refusing to abandon his career goals, Buentello ventured to San Jose, California, the home of celebrated mixed martial arts training center, American Kickboxing Academy (AKA). The commitment required him to leave a steady contracting job as well as his family, including a three year old daughter.