Victor Aguirre Interview Ahead of Elite Fight Night’s Steel City Showdown 3

I had the opportunity to catch up with the debuting fighter Victor Aguirre ahead of his fight this Saturday. 

Fight Preview 

Victor Aguirre 

Training in various gyms such as Pica Pau Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling this fighter while making his MMA debut is no stranger to combat sports.

Aguirre has been around MMA for the majority of his life, with two brothers already being professional MMA fighters, and is a seasoned grappler himself. This fighter makes no secret of his confidence in grappling with a crushing pass game. 

Paul Oney 

Training out of Velocity Fitness and Training and fighting out of Evansville Indiana, Paul Oney may have some fights under his belt, but did not make his debut too long ago, fighting Abe Alsaghir on January 22nd of this year.

Paul “Jumbo Shrimp” Oney is a well-rounded fighter, willing to throw a lot of leg kicks to set up his offense, but is more than willing to go to the ground. He also has a lot of confidence in his chin, absorbing a lot of strikes from Alsaghir, but staying in the fight. Fighting a grappler could be a nice change of pace from the striker he ran into in his debut. 

Interview 

Gonzalo Magana: First, thanks for coming on for the interview, you are a great grappler. How long have you been grappling for and how did this fight with Paul Oney come together? 

Victor Aguirre: I started out with wrestling at three years old, shortly after that I was introduced to what I thought was Jiu-Jitsu, but I now know it looks more like Catch Wrestling since I was taught a lot of things most Jiu-Jitsu guys don’t learn. I was motivated to pursue grappling since my whole family was involved in combat sports, with two brothers already being professional fighters. As for how the fight got put together, my Dad works in the promotion and told me a fight card was coming up, I asked to be put on the card since I feel that I am in the best shape of my life and now was the time to pull the trigger on  MMA. 

Gonzalo Magana: How is training for an MMA fight different from training in pure grappling. 

Victor Aguirre: You know, I love doing Jiu-Jitsu sub-only super fights. In those, I can go all out and give up a position for submission. In MMA that is a dumb idea, since giving up a position can lead to some ground and pound.

So I have been working on being smarter in my grappling exchanges and not firing all in one shot. I have also been doing Muay Thai for a long time, so putting more time into that was important also. 

Gonzalo Magana: What motivated this shot at MMA besides the timing?

Victor Aguirre: I always wanted to give MMA a shot, watching Pride and UFC, playing video games, as well as having two older brothers in MMA, I felt that I had to give it a shot. 

Gonzalo Magana: How do you feel about the fight being at catchweight, does it change your methodology at all? 

Victor Aguirre: The catchweight does not change a lot, I usually do grappling at 155, but for MMA I want to fight at 145. Fighting at 150 is good because I don’t need to do a giant weight cut for my first MMA fight. I have wrestled for a long time, so weight cuts are not new to me, in comparison to someone who has not cut a lot of weight, it’s the part I dislike the most, but it’s nothing new. 

Gonzalo Magana: What do you make of your opponent? 

Victor Aguirre: He is a game fighter, who is ready to fight. I am grateful he took the fight, there is no ill will, I hope we both go back to our family in one piece. He has a solid rear kick and overall is really well rounded, it makes for a really interesting fight that is worth watching. 

Gonzalo Magana: Going back to your family in MMA, how does that change your perspective on the fight? 

Victor Aguirre: I have seen plenty of fight weeks from behind the curtain, I know what to expect. My body is weak, I want to eat whatever, but nothing is a shock. It strengthens my mentality. 

Gonzalo Magana: Finally, what are your short and long-term goals, for grappling and MMA. 

Victor Aguirre: Well for grappling I am going to compete in no-gi worlds, I believe with a victory I could get my purple belt. Grappling overall is a long-term goal, I want to be that old guy at tournaments who is still out there competing. As for MMA, I can’t speak too boldly, I haven’t even had one fight. I just want to see how this fight goes, maybe I don’t like to fight and call it there. I’ll talk with my whole team after the fight to see where we go next. Patience is key. 

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Featured Image Credits to Elite Fight Night