MMA Fighter Spotlight: Sean “StoneField” Foster

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I recently had the pleasure of watching my first Sean “StoneField” Foster fight this weekend in Columbus as part of Iron Tiger Fight Series. The young man captured a UD 30-27 across the board in the fight of the night versus Ryan Santana.

It was an impressive victory as Santana is highly regarded as one of the top prospects in the state. Foster also showed me how classy he was when the ref missed the accidental low blow delivered to Santana, Foster brought it to the attention of the ref and made sure the fight was stopped to give Santana proper time to recover from the blow.  It was one of the classiest moves I’ve ever seen take place in the cage.

I had the chance to sit down with Sean, and he is the focus of this week’s fighter spotlight.

Sean “StoneField” Foster

Age: 30

Height: 5’6″

Weight: 163

Hometown: Kansas City, Missouri

Record: 7-1 Mixed Martial Arts, 1-1 Muay Thai, 1-1 in Professional BJJ

Where did you grow up? Kansas City, MO

What got you interested in the sport? I was the fat kid from kindergarten to freshman year of high school but trained in the more traditional martial arts off and on. I tried my hand at wrestling and failed miserably that first year of high school. Through it though, I found Judo and eventually Muay Thai and finally BJJ.

Where do you currently train? Ronin Training Center – Triumph Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

When did you have your first Ammy fight? October 18, 2014 Youngstown, OH

What parts of your game do you feel are the strongest, and what parts do you feel have needed the most improvement? I think my strongest assets are my cardio, clinch and ground game and my weakest part is hands down my striking

Describe a day during your training schedule, diet included.

I try and hit 2-4 hours of the gym a day broken up between two classes: BJJ, Judo, Wrestling, Muay Thai, MMA depending on my mood or upcoming competitions; and I split my diet between intermittent fasting and a focused veggie, fruit and protein diet. Minimum 1 gallon of water a day

What athletes did you look up growing up? Karo Parisyan, GSP, Shinya Aoki

Why do you feel that MMA has become so popular around the world? I think it is the purest form of martial arts self-expression and with the ability to secure victory from multiple avenues it remains the most exciting thing to watch as literally anything can happen.

What misconceptions of MMA still exist? It’s for everyone. I dislike still seeing fights where a person has obviously barely watched an event. I think that it being still treated like a boxing “toughman” competition by smaller promotions is really harmful. If you’ve never seen anything but a t-shirt that says “never Tap out” and you get placed in your first heel hook….. your gonna have a bad time.

What is the biggest challenge an MMA fighter, trainer or anyone with an MMA company faces?

Fighter: staying relevant and being noticed

Trainer: any time you have any fighter who has been noticed locally, you now have to deal with the inflated ego that comes with it. Just getting some to finish a training session can be a struggle.

MMA Company: generating interest with the current flooding of the market, it can be good to push production value but it can be bad if your just filling fights with anyone you can find.

Outside of MMA, what other hobbies and interests do you have?

My two daughters Dotti(3) & Isla(1) are my usual main focus but I do find time to run the Columbus State Self Defense Program 3 times a week with two of my best friends, we have only been open a year but have garnered numerous awards including helping me achieve Police Officer of the year for my department and has really added to the interest in our martial arts community. I have a deep love of Motorcycles & Tattoos, and I am still an active BJJ competitor with a submission of the night for Fight 2 Win Pro and am also doing IBJJF Masters Worlds this coming year.

What is the next step in your career? Refereeing. Hands down the most fun I’ve ever had in a cage was when I stepped in to referee fights a few years ago. Am excited to continue to use my passion of martial arts to assist the growth of MMA.