TODAY is the first day of the rest of my life… This age-old adage is without significance if you refuse to do anything different after making this vow. For some people TODAY is New Year’s Day, a birthday, or just plain Monday. The day does not matter. What matters is, what you choose to do to start living your life differently. For Sean “P-Town” Wilson that day was inspired by tragedy. Wilson was critically injured in an motorcyle accident a little more than a year ago, an accident that claimed the life of one of his great friends.
“Now is my time,” says Sean “P-Town” Wilson. He is on a three-fight win streak and feels the best he has ever felt in his life. Since the accident, things have changed in Wilson’s life. He is raising three children with full custody of his three-year-old daughter. He says, “I feel good spiritually, mentally and physically right now. I feel better than I ever have.” This is coming from a man that has had over 200 fights in his career. The way Wilson sees it; he is 3-0 right now. He has taken on a whole new fight team, coaches and has taken his new lease on life to heart. “When my buddy died right in front of me, it was like a switch went off in my head. I realized that this was my chance and I was going to take it. I’m working out two or three times-a-day, six or seven days-a-week but I don’t even think about it. It is just coming natural like I’m supposed to be doing it,” says Wilson. Sean Wilson is a man with a purpose.
Sean “P-Town” Wilson, born ( October 20, 1982) raised in Omaha, Nebraska, where he grew up with his family. Wilson says, “They call me “P-Town” because I grew up in a small town just South of Omaha called Papillion. When I started boxing as a kid, I had a match against another kid from South Omaha and they started calling me ‘P-Town’ and it just stuck. Most people don’t even know my real name.”
When asked how he got his start in MMA Wilson says, “My dad always had me working out. I started hitting the heavy bag when I was about eight years old. I played a little football and tried other sports but I really got into boxing in high school from about the age of fourteen, then I had to wait until I was eighteen to fight MMA, so as soon as I turned eighteen I got into Mixed Martial Arts.” Wilson began his mixed martial arts career in 2000, and turned professional shortly after. “I was all about making money back then” admits Wilson. Along the way he compiled an up and down career. Wilson says, “I didn’t take fighting seriously. I was just doing it for the money. As soon as I would get tired or something like that, I would just kinda lay down and collect the money and go home.”
Sean calls himself a freestyle fighter with an emphasis in the standup game. “I am very comfortable standing up with my boxing and kickboxing because I grew up on it, but I’m not scared of going to the ground, I just won a fight with a submission so I can grapple too. I just think of myself as more of a stand up kind of Freestyle Fighter,” says Wilson. When asked who his mentors are Wilson says, “I used to look up to guys like Grover Wiley, Vito Agusto and of course my dad growing up, Jesse Jones was another one. All of them are coaching now and I’m still fighting. I kinda got Jake Ellenberger into MMA he was always asking me to train and now look at him. I don’t know, I don’t really look up to too many people. I’m just really proud of Jake.”
32-year-old Sean Wilson has been tentatively scheduled to fight in Bellator on June 19th in a 145-pound bout and/or VFC (Victory Fighting Championships) on July 25th in Omaha. Wilson has put together somewhat of a winning streak as of late, winning his last three, all of which he finished via KO/submission. Although some would argue, can a 32-year-old man compete or even win a title? Just remember, Randy Couture did not even start his MMA career until 33. He is the oldest champion in UFC history at the age of 45, and he will likely forever hold that distinction. Even as he approached 50 years old, Couture won three of his final four MMA bouts. Today it would be amazing to see a fighter at Wilson’s age reach the height of MMA. So what about Sean Wilson? “It took me 32 years to grow up but I wouldn’t change what I’m doing right now for anything,” says Wilson. He emphasizes his gratitude to all of the people who have helped, supported and stuck with him through all of his recent trials. Sean Wilson is a man on a mission.
His coaches tell him to aim for the UFC. If you are going to aim, aim big. “I am training like I am training for the UFC and I will do everything that is in me to get there,” says Wilson. Wilson’s new lease on life has given him a purpose and a direction. That direction, at least for the moment is headed straight for the top. And if you ask him what his ultimate goal is, he does not say the UFC or a championship. He simply states, “I’m gonna hurt some people this year.”