ICF: Stacked Post-Event Interview With George Oiler (July 28, 2009)

After last weekend's ICF: Stacked event, I also caught up with George Oiler to talk with him about his win over Lance Vinson, his pre-fight prep, and his continuing quest to become a professional fighter.

Here is what George had to say:


FightTicker.com: You were fighting at 185 tonight, down from 205 before, and you’re on your way down to 170 for your next fight – how did the cut go for today’s fight? (PreView’s Note: In Ohio, amateur MMA fighters have to deal with same-day weigh-ins as opposed to weighing in the day before.)

George Oiler: It was hard. I guess I didn’t cut enough sodium out of my diet. I learned a lesson in how to cut weight a little bit better after this one. I don’t think I’ll have any problems making 170 because I learned from the error I made today. (PreView’s Note: Oiler did make weight for his fight, it just took a few hours longer than he expected.)

FightTicker.com: Besides the cut itself, how was it putting the weight back on before the fight?

George Oiler: I felt good. I went and rehydrated, took a nap and got up and came here – felt great. Just had a hard time cutting the weight.

FightTicker.com: On Cageside Seats, we talked about your quest to go pro – how much closer does this win take you to that step?

George Oiler: This puts me at 3-1 on the database, and 6-1 if you count the fights that aren’t shown on the database. This gives me one more fight to go, and I signed a contract last night to fight Tyler Johnson for the ICF 170 Amateur Title here at the fight club on August 21st.

FightTicker.com: At the beginning of the fight, you landed a leg kick but caught a right to the head at the same time, and you went down. From where I was sitting, I couldn’t really tell – did that right stun you or did you slip?

George Oiler: It was a slip. I did try to switch-kick, I’ve been playing with that with my muay thai coach, and I went for it and as I threw it, I kind of slipped right as he was about to connect. He didn’t actually hit me or stun me there, it was all slip.

FightTicker.com: Once you were on the ground you went for a kneebar, then an armbar and then a kneebar again and then once you stood up, you all really traded some shots and it looked like you were landing some good punches but taking some good ones too – what was going through your mind during that exchange?

George Oiler: I didn’t get hurt, but it was fun. I’ve never gotten to actually trade with somebody like that, everybody’s been on the ground with me because I’ve always taken the fight. When I hit him with a left hook, I saw his eyes kind of glaze over and I thought, “Alright, I might get to knock somebody out,” but then he ducked his head and I thought, “Well, it’s time to finish somebody with jiu jitsu again.”

FightTicker.com: Let’s talk about the jiu jitsu – With the guillotine, I know it was a standing guillotine initially and then you two hit the ground – did he try to slam you to get out of it or did you take him down?

George Oiler: I had it [the guillotine] and he pressed me against the cage and I was trying to finish it by arching my back but I couldn’t get enough leverage because he was 6’1” compared to my 5’9” so I jumped guard, he didn’t slam me.

FightTicker.com: Another submission win for you tonight – and your match against Tyler Johnson, a tough fighter out of Team Vision, who is also a great jiu jitsu fighter – do you think your all’s fight will end up being a technical BJJ fight or do you think two guys as good on the ground as you two are going to stand and bang it out?

George Oiler: I think it could actually end up being the standup war I need to show I can throw hands with these guys. Two guys really good at jiu jitsu – it’s liable to happen. But if it hits the ground, that will be fun too.

FightTicker.com: George, congrats on the win tonight and thanks for talking to me – anybody you want to give a shout out to?

George Oiler: FightForLifeUSA.com, those guys take care of me every time. Hardwalking.com, they had a ton of people walking around in shirts today with my name on them. My guys back in Beckley at West Virginia MMA, my guys up here at Jorge Gurgel’s camp, Team JG, everybody takes care of me really well.