Roundtable: Does Andy Ogle Deserve Another Fight in The UFC?
On Saturday night Newcastle's Andy Ogle fought Charles Oliveira in Brazil at UFC Fight Night 36. A huge underdog going into the fight Ogle put in a noble effort arguable winning round 2 and looking good to take the third round as well before being caught in a triangle choke from the submission specialist which ultimately led to Ogle's 2 loss in a row, and 3rd in his last 4.
While Ogle has proved he is a tough guy taking on some real tough guys in his time with the UFC, one has to start questioning at 1-3 since making his debut for the promotion, how long will Dana and co. keep the 25-year old around.
The team at kingdom MMA discuss whether Andy Ogle deserves another fight, or if the bout with Oliveira will be his last under the promotion.
Chris Houten - @mrhouts
I've been impressed with Ogle since making his debut, the guy has held his own in some pretty tough fights. Although 1-3 in his last 4 fights, Ogle is a better fighter than his UFC record suggests.
Since making his UFC debut at UFC on Fuel 5, Ogle has had a hellish run fighting top featherweights such as Oliveira, Cole Miller, Josh Grispi and Akira Corassani, and to his credit, he has held his own - its fair to say he has done himself and the UK proud.
Although Ogle hasn't looked like he could finish any of the opponents he has faced, which could ultimately be his downfall in the argument if he deserves another fight in the UFC, Ogle has shown excellent grappling and ground control beyond what the average fight fan would expect from a Brit.
There is no shame in losing to Charles Oliveira - the guy is a killer with his only losses coming to top 10 guys in Jim Miller, Donald Cerrone, Cub Swanson & Frankie Edgar, as there is no shame in losing to 15 fight UFC vet Cole miller - the guy has had 15 fights in the UFC for a reason, he's that good. An argument could be made that Ogle defeated Akira Corassani also.
Its fair to say, no matter how tough Ogle has had it, he can't keep losing. I'd like to see Ogle have another fight in the UFC but I would total understand if he was cut.
Ben Heather - @benheather
For me this is an easy question to answer. YES
Andy Ogle is certainly a UFC calibre fighter, in my mind two issues have led to people asking will he be cut after his latest loss.
1) He has been matched up really badly in every fight.
2) He is too tough for his own good and has accepted to fight anyone, anywhere. To Andy Ogle getting offered a fight is accepting a fight.
Lets look at my first point. In his UFC debut he got matched up against Akira Corassani, a fight in which going in to it nobody gave him a chance and while we was waiting for the decision 99% of the crowd thought he won. If it wasn't for some poor judging he would have won that fight.
Next up he gets matched with and defeats Josh Grispi. Again, going in to the fight nobody gave him a chance but he proved everyone wrong again and dominated the fight winning this time on the judges scorecards.
Then he accepted, but had to pull out of the fight against Conor McGregor at UFC on FOX Sports 1. Once he was fully recovered he faced Cole Miller in Manchester. This fight was the first time we had seen Ogle dominated but even then in the third round he changed the whole fight around but it was too little, too late. Taking his UFC record to 1-2.
This past weekend he then faced Charles Oliveira in Brazil. This is the same Oliveira who last time out went toe to toe with Frankie Edgar for 15 minutes losing a decision in the co main event of the July 4th weekend card where Weidman defeated Anderson Silva. That is how highly the UFC rate Oliveira and when the fight was booked I thought Ogle had been thrown to the wolves again.
Now Ogle is 1-3 in the UFC a place no fighter wants to be however, I think he deserves one last shot on one of the european shows which have been planned for this year against another fighter who is like Andy Ogle a mid tier UFC fighter. If he gets matched up well for the next couple of fights I see Andy Ogle bringing his UFC record back to a healthier position. The fact he has taken the fights he has and only once pulled out of a fight has to be in his favour and I hope to see him in the Octagon again soon.
Tommy Strong - @strong_tea
Andy Ogle hit our screens on the first ever 'Ultimate Fighter Live' series back in 2012 where he defeated Brendan Weafer via unanimous decision to book himself a place inside the house.
I've got to admit, since the first time I saw Andy fight I've not been very impressed at all. Yes he's game, yes he durable, and yes he gives you 100% every time he fights. Though this simply isn't enough if you want to have a sustainable career within the UFC where the standards are set so high.
He made an impressive start inside the house defeating number Mike Rio via submission in the 2nd round, though lost his following fight in the quarter finals losing to Al Iaquinta inside the first round via TKO and forcing him out of a fight in the Ultimate fighter final.
Ogle went onto made his UFC debut in Nottingham England where he narrowly lost to Akira Corassani via split decision. I've got to be honest. I thought he was very unlucky not to get the decision that night. If he had won that night , we might not be here now discussing about his future.
His style of fighting really doesn't lend itself to a mass market, and there is little appeal for me to go out of my way to watch him fight, this could be his biggest downfall here. We all know Dana and the UFC love fighters that come to fight regardless of the outcome. Look at Dan Hardy , Leonard Garcia, both went on long losing streaks and held onto there jobs because they entertained the fans. This I'm afraid just isn't Ogle's style of fighting.
At just 25 years old Ogle has his career still in front of him. In my opinion, he would be better off signing himself to a promotion like Bamma or Cage Warriors where he could build on his career and develop his game against fighters more on his level.
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