WREXHAM fighter Aaron Aby has vowed to bounce back from his defeat to a UFC veteran.

Aaron Aby is an athlete who lives with cystic fibrosis and was also told he ‘was going to die’ after being diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2017.

But, the 34-year-old - who is a die-hard Wrexham AFC fan - has defied all odds to become one of the few professional athletes in the UK with Cystic Fibrosis, despite being told he had a life expectancy of 16 years.

Aby’s inspiring journey includes overcoming that cancer scare in 2017 where doctors told him that he had three months to live and would never fight again.

Determined to prove them wrong, he fought his way through cancer and back into MMA and has been climbing through the ranks ever since.

His latest clash last Saturday (November 9), saw him take on UFC veteran Zhalgus Zhumagulov at OKTAGON 63 in Bratislava, Slovakia.

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And, unfortunately for Aby, it was his opponent, who is from Kazakhstan, who eventually came out on top.

Despite a nasty cut suffered in the first round, Aby dug deep and battled through the full three rounds, ultimately losing via unanimous decision.

After the fight, Aby said: "Growing up I was always told to never quit. I’ll never be a quitter, it’s not in me. As long as I’m alive I’ll keep on fighting. He cut me in the first round but it’s nothing I haven’t experienced before and I was able to fight on."

On signing a new contract with OKTAGON, he added: "Oktagon is my home - I love fighting for OKTAGON, I love the promotion and I’m happy to sign my new contract. I didn’t get the win today, but it’s back to the drawing board and I’ll be back stronger.”

Zhumagulov now has been confirmed as OKTAGON MMA’s next flyweight title challenger, where he has his sights set on the crown held by Englishman, Sam Creasey.

OKTAGON MMA has proven itself on the European MMA scene, with high-level production value combined with competitive and engaging match-making helping them become one of the leading MMA promotions in the world.

They recently made the five-promotion shortlist for MMA promotion of the year.