Valor Fights featherweight champion, Preston “Ice Pick” Schick, will make his Bellator MMA debut on August 19 at Bellator MMA Fight Series: Bristol.
MMA Plus’ Daniel Clemenson caught up with the young and promising fighter to find out a little bit more about him and preview his upcoming fight.
Q. When did you start training in MMA and what got you into the sport?
A. I played soccer my entire life up until the point I moved from Maryland to Tennessee, where I lost my passion for it. My Father encouraged me to try something new like self-defense. I took his self-defense suggestion one step further and at the age of 15 I fell in love with MMA, started competing, and haven’t stopped since.
Q. What gym do you train out of?
A. I train out of Team Oxendine in Johnson City Tennesee which is where I have been my entire career and train with Bellator veterans like Nate Jolly and Stoney Hale.
Q. You’ve won the majority of your fights via KO. I’m wondering do you hold a belt in BJJ (if so, what color and who is it under)?
A. I hold a blue belt in BJJ under Coach Casey Oxendine who has trained under Marco Ruas and has a 3rd-degree black belt under BJJ legend Helio Soneca.
Q. You will be making your Bellator debut against Ahva Mayi on August 19th? How will you deal with the pressure, what do you think of your opponent and what is your prediction for the fight?
A. I will be fighting for Bellator as an amateur, which I am pretty excited about. I hold a Featherweight title for a promotion called Valor Fights and I plan on defending the belt at least once before I turn pro either late this year or very early next year. I plan to brush off pressure for this fight like i always do and deal with my tough durable opponent by putting him away with my superior striking. I predict my opponent will try to put me on the mat and grind me out for as long as he can with ground and pound but I have very good grappling that a lot of people don’t know about which will definitely play a factor.
Q. You’re known as “Ice Pick”. How did you get your nickname?
A. I got my nickname “Ice Pick” from my coach when my striking became lethal early with kickboxing bouts where [I] started putting my opponents away.
Q. Lastly, tell us a little bit about yourself (other hobbies/interests, are you still in school, if so where and what are you studying etc.)?
A. My life consists of work, school, and MMA. I am currently finishing three associates degrees at the local community college and will be going to a university in the fall. Other than school I go to work to get money for MMA, which consumes a lot of my time, and going on different adventures to liven up my day to day life, I’m 20 years of age and live in the Smokey Mountains so I have plenty to venture.
You can follow Preston Schick on Instagram @youngandrising.
