HOUSTON, TX, July 19, 2011 – One of the opening bouts of the night at this Friday’s Legacy Fighting Championship 7 features a ‘Coach versus Coach’ battle between Tony Orozco of Silverback Fight Club and David McClung of BVMMA that has everybody on the Houston MMA scene abuzz with anticipation.
With both these guys fighting purely for the thrill of it and for love of the game, this matchup should guarantee nothing short of fireworks for the live crowd in attendance at Houston’s Arena Theater.
Getting ready for this fight, we posted our interview with David McClung yesterday. According to Dave, he’s feeling healthy and ready for what should be a great ride in this fight with his fellow Coach Tony.
Last night, we went to the Silverback Fight Club to speak to Tony Orozco and get his view on this Friday’s fight also.
For those of you that haven’t been to the new location of Silverback Fight Club, let me describe it for you. It’s a no-frills gym located on a lonely stretch of Gessner in North Houston. Underneath the tutelage of Orozco, students train, sweat, and no doubt bleed in the harsh reality of Houston’s hot and musky weather – on mats located right next to open bay doors and with sun touching their backs. Make no mistake about it… this isn’t Club Med. This is every bit of a fighter’s gym.
Walking in this past Monday night, the first thing that could be seen was young Orozco (Lil Tony, not the senior citizen one) on the mats rolling with David Armas (who also makes his pro debut this Friday against Garcie Barra’s Shelby Sheehan). The two up-and-coming fighters were going at it, trading submissions, positions, and pitter-patter punches back-and-forth with just enough control not to hurt each other while other pairs trained around them.
Standing in the middle of tall this was the elder Orozco, clad in full Jesus Didn’t Tap training attire. He’s already sweaty himself, observing and coaching the two boys and the other rolling pairs while even younger kids sat observing on the heavy bags strewn across the walls, no doubt eagerly awaiting their own turn days, weeks, or years down the line.
Never losing grip on his coaching duties, the Original Silverback eventually finds his way down to the mats as well, rolling with his students in turn and getting himself ready for this Friday’s fight against McClung.
I asked him if he putting in this work was a regular thing for him or if it was because of his upcoming fight.
“Whether I have a fight or not doesn’t really make a difference,” he told me. “I’m always training with my guys. I roll with them, spar with them, run, lift weights, everything. I want them to see that if I can do it at forty-four years old, then they should definitely be able to work their butts off at 18, 19, 20. That’s the atmosphere I try to maintain around here. Hard work always and I wan to be the one setting that example. There’s a lot of coaches out there that don’t always do that but I don’t mind getting in there and banging with my guys. I love it.”
Looking ahead to this Friday’s fight at Legacy FC 7, Tony says he’s ready to get in there and try to show everyone what’s made of.
“I feel great. I think it’s going to be a good battle between two old dinosaurs. I have a lot of respect for David. He’s forty and I’m forty-four so he’s actually younger than me but that’s okay. I’m going to bring it to him like I did (Shawn) Machado and hopefully my shoulder won’t give out on me this time.”
Reflecting back on his MMA debut at IXFA, Tony has learned that even at forty-four years old, an old dog (or gorilla) can still learn new tricks.
“The first time (fighting), I tried to approach the fight relaxed also but it didn’t turn out that way, The way we train here, when we see that our opponent may be hurt, we turn into animals. We really go ‘angry gorilla’ and just go for the kill. That’s what I did with Machado. I got too aggressive and went for the kill and threw my shoulder out by doing that. Then it was over. This time, I’m going to be more composed and relaxed. If I do hurt my opponent, I’ll still try to finish him but hopefully not burn my wad out in one round trying to put him out.”
All in all, Tony expects a dynamic and exciting fight between himself and David McClung to open the night at Legacy Fighting Championship 7.
“You’re going to see two O.G.’s (like we say in the streets) come out and bang. Age is just a number. I don’t know about David but I feel as good as I felt when I was 19-20. I look see all these guys that I went to high school with and I’m like, “what the hell happened to you?!?” <laughs> Me and David have almost 100 years between us and we’re still going in there to try to knock each other’s heads off. This is going to be a fun fight. Our students and all the fans lucky enough to find a ticket should love it.”
After that, Tony said to make sure to watch the rest of Silverback Fight Club make their way up the rankings.
“I told everybody three years ago that I was going to come back slowly and make an impact,” he reflects.
At one time I had a good camp with (Jose) Santibanez, (Daniel) Pineda, Ike (Villanueva), and all those guys. Unfortunately they left for their own reasons. I hold no anger or remorse against them but I told everybody that within three years I would rebuild my team and come back with a vengeance. Now all these young horses I’ve been bringing up are coming to make a name for themselves. Derrick (Lewis), Larry Crowe, my sons Tony, David, and Scotty, Jacob, JP, Chile, Nacho… These guys are the next generation of Silverbacks to look out for. See you guys Friday!”
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