25-year old Andy Ogle went from the U.K. to Sacramento to train and will now fight in Sweden at this weekend’s UFC on FOX 14 fight card.
Most fighter’s say they don’t like getting hit in the face and guy’s like Nick Diaz even say they don’t like fighting. For Ogle fighting is in his blood, it’s what he likes to do. Heck he believes it has become like a drug to him.
Andy Ogle became institutionalized by MMA
“I’ve got a degree in sports science,” Ogle told MMASucka.com. “I went to university, I didn’t have to choose this path, but I just got sucked in to MMA and I loved it. It’s like a drug, but now I feel like I became institutionalized and it’s the only thing I know.”
It’s been eight months since we saw Ogle in the Octagon last. After a three-fight losing skid, and 1-4 overall inside the Octagon, Ogle needed a change of scenery. He up and left his camp in Sunderland, England for sunny California. After a lengthy flight, “The Little Axe” made Team Alpha Male his home and he believes it has truly made him a new fighter.
“I came up short in the last couple of fights. I had a couple of runs with bad luck coming into the bouts, but just went with it,” said Ogle. “Put the back luck under my sails and people don’t see that going into the cage, they just see the end result. It was marginal with my losses, so I came out to Alpha Male where they’ve got the best guys at my weight and I’m ready to put all the bad experiences behind me and get the W.
“Time to develop, time to get better and I believe the UFC has also been very good to me, giving me that extra time. Giving me that extra time to find my feet at Alpha Male and hopefully you’re going to see a different fighter. I believe that Dana White, Sean Shelby and Joe Silva have given me that time to work on the things that I really need to and you’re going to see a whole different me.”
The gym in southern California is well known for fighter’s at Ogle’s weight class and it has given him that drive to get back inside the Octagon. His girlfriend, however, made it clear that he must be “ready.”
“It’s given me that bite and that edge again to compete. I told my girlfriend I want to fight, she said, don’t just want to fight, you’re not ready. She said you need to be climbing the walls to get a fight. You need to be absolutely chewing at the bit to get a fight. Then I started chewing, I was absolutely chewing. Either god has got sick of me praying to him all the time and he’s like give this English son of a b*tch a fight or this was meant to happen. Regardless of what happens, I’m going to go in there smiling and I’m going to leave the cage smiling.”
His opponent, Makwan Amirkhani is making his UFC debut in Sweden. Although fairly unknown to the majority of fans, Amirkhani will have the European fans behind him. Ogle could use his brash tongue to carve a strip in the Finnish fighter prior to the bout, but that is just not up his alley. He will let his actions in the cage do the talking.
“I’ve watched some tape on him. I’m not really going to speak about him too much. He’s going to do what he’s going to do. You know that I’ve prepared for it to the best of my ability, so it’s just going to be who’s better on the night. Whose style knocks the other guy’s style surpasses it and makes it look inferior. Who’s got their sh*t down and who’s done it the best. I’m not going to worry about it and I’m not going to pick him apart online. But I’ve prepared for him, I’ve seen some tapes.”
Ogle has only short term goals on his mind at this point in his career, and Saturday night’s is simple.
“My hand getting raised victoriously in front of the Swedish crowd.”
