Kevin Aguilar trains at Longview MMA Team 515 Mixed Martial Arts.

Kevin Aguilar was manufacturing a sign in 2018 when a phone call pulled him away from the job. He listened and didn’t say much as he was stunned.

UFC President Dana White wanted him for the UFC Contender Series 12 in Las Vegas.

Aguilar would work all day in the sign shop then train at Longview MMA as part of Team 515 on East Tyler Street, but he had only fought mixed martial arts, never a real UFC card.

He looked at his co-workers and said, ‘I have to go to work.’ He remembers having butterflies and being bewildered as his co-workers responded, ‘What are you talking about? You are at work.’ He resigned on the spot and went to work training.

On July 10, 2018, Aguilar made Longview proud by going the distance against Joey Gomez in a victory. He followed that up with two more UFC victories on ESPN.

Saturday on UFC Fight Card, ESPN+ and ESPN, he is part of the UFC 262 card. His featherweight bouts will be the second fight of the night, which starts at 5:30 p.m. The main event is at 10 p.m.

Aguilar (17-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) will take on Tucker Lutz (11-1 MMA, first UFC fight) at 5:30 p.m. on UFC Fight Pass. Another local fight will take place at 7 p.m. on ESPN when Andrea Lee of Atlanta (11-5) will take on Antonina Shevchenko (9-2).

“Tucker is a high-level, up-and-comer. I do not take him lightly. I have put everything into the training camp,” Aguilar said. “He is 11-1 and making a name for himself. We are going to square off in the octagon and go toe-to-toe. It’s the same exciting feeling stepping into the cage whether it’s your first fight or this fight.

“He is a high-level wrestler, we have prepared for that extensively, he is known to be a good striker, he’s a champion kick boxer and we prepared for that, too,” he added.

Aguilar turns to James Compton while inside Longview MMA and says, “I have my own champion striker right here who has carried me this far and he never lets me stray from my striking ability.”

Compton, a Fairfield native, has lived in Longview since 2002. He is the boxing coach at Longview MMA with Team 515, and has worked with Aguilar for 11 years. The team includes coaches for Muay Thai, wrestling, jiu jitsu and boxing. Wade Pomeroy is the head coach. Compton will be in Aguilar’s corner Saturday night.

“I knew he would be successful from the beginning. He has a ton of heart and never quits. I love working with people who, when I ask them to do something, they do it. And when they can’t, they work in a mirror until they get it right,” Compton said. “Kevin has been a perfect student.”

During the last night of training in Longview before they had to go to Houston for media obligations and other pre-fight events, Aguilar hit Compton’s training glove so hard it flew off. Compton shook his numb hand.

“It feels good, but it feels even better when he does it to another fighter,” Compton said with a laugh. “He hits hard. But where he has improved is ring experience and knowing what to do and when to do it.

“He is fight-smart. A lot of people know the techniques, but it’s hard to do when you are fighting someone else. He knows when to throw something and why, it’s like a chess match,” Compton added.

Aguilar went to Harmony ISD where he was a standout in football and track. Aguilar also competed in powerlifting, baseball and tennis.

“I was always trying to stay busy, stay active and find my thing. For a while I wanted to be a pro football player, but I needed size and other things. However, every sport I competed in I went non-stop 100% and the only thing on my mind was winning and perfecting the craft,” Aguilar said. “I’ve always been a big fan of mixed martial arts and martial arts in general. I liked sports, action movies and karate as a kid and I always thought it would be cool to fight one day. But for a country boy from the sticks, something like that is never going to come around in my lifetime.”

Today he is 32. But at age 19 he met Pomeroy and started training.

“Kevin has gone the furthest out of all our fighters so far, but he worked the hardest,” said Pomeroy, who has worked in MMA for 30 years and 25 years as a manager. “At his level, it’s a team effort getting him prepared. Everyone needs to push him and help him in different areas. But what I like about this sport is, once he gets in the cage, it’s an individual sport.”

Aguilar finishes his workout and says, “I had a dream. I wanted to be a great fighter, and Wade started training me.”

Aguilar said he realizes the help from Longview and East Texas when he is able to compete in an UFC event and looks at the fighters with national and international sponsorships.

“We have a lot of local businesses and local sponsors helping me out,” Aguilar explains. “I have old friends who started their own businesses helping me out. People like to help here, they like to see a local boy make it.

“I couldn’t be happier with the support I have received from East Texas, from Longview, from Winnsboro … Everybody is so proud of me,” he continued. “Everytime I announce something, people flood my messages with ‘we are so proud of you, we are so happy for you’ and ‘you’ve earned this,’ to have that support from the people makes me feel great and makes me want to push harder.”

Despite his full-time training schedule and going all-in with UFC fighting, Aguilar is also giving back to the Longview community. When kids sign up for one of Compton’s classes at Longview MMA, they will see his “assistant” Aguilar.

Some of the kids have his posters on their walls, and most of the students get autographs. Of course, after their parents who paid for the fight get one first.

They have enjoyed that time as well.

“Kids play baseball, soccer, football, and they come to train here between seasons,” said Compton. “Some stay all the time. But the best for me is seeing a kid who is not very athletic, not very confident, suddenly becomes very confident.”

The fight Saturday will be at the Toyota Center in Houston and Aguilar’s nickname is “The Angel of Death” while Lutz goes by “Top Gun.”