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Oiler, who wrestled in high school, turned to MMA to get himself back into shape after watching a young Tito Ortiz use takedowns and ground-and-pound to dominate opponents. He began training at West Virginia MMA under the tutelage of Bryan Atterson and hasn’t looked back since.

Asked why he didn’t stop training once he accomplished his goal of fighting once, Oiler replied, “The adrenaline rush. There’s no better feeling than having my arm raised after a win.

“I have an absolute passion for this sport. Even if at some point I decide I’m not going to fight anymore, I’m going to keep training, working out, and teaching. Jiu Jitsu and MMA is my life.”

A BJJ brown belt under UFC and Strikeforce veteran Jorge Gurgel, Oiler will take on Gary Young in a light heavyweight clash.

“I kind of look at every fight the same,” Oiler said. “I’m going to try and impose my will…control the pace and the place of the fight.”

Oiler is definitely excited to fight in the first show in the state’s history but doesn’t feel any additional nervousness.

“To actually get to fight near home in front of friends and family is awesome,” the longtime West Virginia native said.

MWG client and lightweight prospect Brandon Demastes

A lightweight amateur MMA champion and former collegiate football player, Brandon Demastes is set to make his professional debut on Feb. 10 at Xtreme Fighting Championships 16: High Stakes in Knoxville, Tenn.

Owning a 5-2 record as a lightweight, Demastes’s only setbacks have come via hotly-contested decisions. His only other setback came in another close loss on the judges’ scorecards in a 170-pound bout.

Demastes will square off against top prospect Scott Holtzman, who holds the XFC’s amateur lightweight championship and will also be making his pro debut. Although Holtzman, who trains in Knoxville, will have the hometown advantage, Demastes isn’t intimidated.

“I’m pretty sure a lot of the local people in Tennessee consider me an underdog,” said Demastes, who wrestled throughout high school and played NCAA Division II football at Fairmont State University. “But I’m not really intimidated by any of his past fights. I think I’m more of a skilled athlete than he is. We’ll find out on February 16.”

There will be plenty on the line for both combatants, hoping to get their first professional victory and impress an XFC organization regularly televised on HDNet. But Demastes should be feeling good about his chances after putting in a full training camp at Team On Point — run by On Point Athletics founder Chad Marsh — with some help from Reaction MMA in Lexington, Ky and some top wrestlers from Ohio Valley University.

Demastes’s job on an oil rig can make it tricky to put together a good training schedule, but he has had plenty of preparation for the biggest fight of his career.

“I’m always pretty confident going into every fight,” Demastes said. “It’s definitely the biggest organization I’ve fought for. I just have to get ready and train; I can’t do anything different and force the issue.

“I very easily could’ve won every fight I’ve had. I haven’t always been able to put enough time into training, conditioning not as good as should’ve been. But I’m putting in a great camp for this fight.”

Brandon would like to thank his generous sponsors for their support: On Point Athletics, Swole Sports Nutrition, and Hyre’s Country Haven.

To purchase tickets, visit Cagetix.com, click on the event “XFC: High Stakes – Knoxville, TN 2/10″, then click on “Brandon Demastes”, then choose the ticket price.

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MWG client Isaac Steele earned his second professional MMA victory with a first round submission win over Yancy Martin at Absolute Action MMA. Picture by Gary Thomas of BluegrassMMA.com

MWG clients Isaac Steele (2-0 professional, 5-0 amateur) and Rob Nickerson (2-1 professional, 6-2 amateur) both earned quick and impressive first-round submission wins at Absolute Action MMA 20: “Battle Against Breast Cancer 2” on November 19 in Florence, Ky. Without injuries to halt there momentum, expect to see both of them back in the cage in early 2012.

Steele has raised plenty of eyebrows with his talent and work ethic, but garnered additional media attention by donating all of his proceeds to help fund cancer research. Perhaps motivated by a higher purpose, Steele needed only 1:38 to submit Yancy Martin with an armbar.

“The game plan was to go out there and get off first, really take it to him,” said Steele, a student of UFC and Strikeforce veteran Jorge Gurgel. “I talked to Jorge and Rich [Franklin] both before the fight. They said the big thing was to not let him set his feet. He comes from a Muay Thai background and needs to set his feet to throw his kicks.

“I came in early and threw a front kick, clinched up, and took him down right off the bat.”

After forcing Martin to cover up to defend the ground-and-pound barrage, Steele spotted his opening and caught the submission.

Steele said he is considering whether to line up another fight first or compete in some Jiu Jitsu tournaments to tighten up his ground skills. But either way, he’ll be back in action shortly.

“Right now we’re looking at something in March that hopefully comes together,” he said.

MWG client Rob Nickerson earned hsi second professional victory with a first round submission win over Chris Potee at Absolute Action MMA. Picture by Gary Thomas of BluegrassMMA.com

Nickerson, the head trainer at Reaction MMA — a Gurgel affiliate academy — also came in with a smart strategy that he executed to perfection against Chad Potee, an accomplished amateur wrestler.

“I knew that he was going to engage the wrestling, but as soon as we touched gloves and backed up, I noticed he’d obviously looked at my films, because his hands were held a little higher up than he had in previous fights, so he was defending [against my] right hand,” Nickerson said. “So I threw a front kick instead of trying to force some boxing. It caught him flush on the chin and it kind of wobbled him. As he fell into me, we started to clinch.”

From there, Nickerson pushed Potee against the cage and secured the double underhooks. However, Potee used his wrestling to get out of the disadvantageous position and actually get a takedown of his own.

Being on your back is the last place you usually want to be against a strong wrestler. But Nickerson showed the instincts of a good coach and followed his corner’s advice.

“They’d told me in the back [before the fight] that as soon as I hit the ground, if I end up there, have active hips and start throwing Jiu Jitsu at him and not be flat on ground.”

Nickerson threw a series of submission holds at Potee before finally securing a triangle choke. Potee was forced to tap out at the 2:23 mark.

Asked what might be next, Nickerson replied, “It’s still fun for me to compete, so I definitely want to keep pursuing my dreams. I’m going to look at the things I’ve done wrong [from the fight] and work to fix those things. I’d like to fight soon, maybe February or March.”

Isaac’s sponsors for this fight were: Swole Sports Nutrition, Cage Fighter, and On Point Athletics

Rob was sponsored by: Swole Sports Nutrtion, On Point Athletics, Bluegrass MMA, Georgetown Chiropractic, Lucky’s AutoSports, GLC 2000, and XCEL Sport Science & Fitness

To listen to and download the show, visit Carson’s Corner.