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DEVIN COLE Part
2 Ready to Lock Horns With the Best
©
Marc Wickert Special
thanks to Ricky Vasquez It
would be difficult to find an MMA athlete more professional or hard
working than former International Fight League heavyweight star Devin
Cole. Devin carved an impressive name for himself in ultimate
fighting as a member of Matt Lindland’s Wolfpack; however, after the
demise of the IFL, Cole has been fighting his way back up, excepting all
challenges and competing every second month to establish himself as a
powerful force in cage fighting. Despite normally weighing in at a
solid 240lbs, Devin (12-7-1) has been squeezing out sparks in training
to cut down to 205 and prepare for his highly anticipated battle with
Chris “The Exorcist” Price. Cole’s
lifestyle is hectic by anyone’s standards. “I work five
ten-hour days a week. I get up in the morning at five to do my
cardio: I’m either wrestling or running at 6 o’clock in the morning,
then I’m at work till eight at night, before I go do my sparring or
technique training.” It’s easy to look away from Devin, who was Born in Coos Bay, Oregon, and picture James “Sawyer” Ford of the LOST series talking to you as Devin chats in his laidback way, even though Sawyer is supposedly from Jasper, Alabama. But beneath Devin’s cool demeanor is a highly destructive MMA fighting machine, rearing to demolish anyone game enough to throw down with him. Currently,
it’s Thursday evening in Oregon and Devin has just received the
disappointing news that his first fight for 2010 has been cancelled.
“The promoter said that Chris Price (15-3-0) got injured. They
said they’re looking for a replacement, but that it would be difficult
to find somebody tough enough to take his place, so back to ground
zero,” says Cole. Adding
salt to the wounds for Devin is the knowledge that his preparation for
the Cole vs. Price battle was definitely on track and he was eager to
start off the year with a blast. “My training has been going
really well. I’ve been boxing with Cesar Chavez at Bulldog
Boxing and working on my jiu jitsu with Pete Loncarevich at Pistol
Pete’s Lotus Club. I’m just trying to get better every day.
I’m also practicing my wrestling at Southern Oregon University.
The SAU heavyweight, Jon Bates, is a favorite in the nation, and my old
college coach called me up and asked me if I needed a workout partner
because Jon needed one. It’s been really good going back over
there, and I’ve been getting up at five in the morning and meeting him
at six to wrestle before I go to work. I’ve liked fine-tuning my
wrestling because you may be good at something, but if you don’t
practice it you’re going to get rusty.” Devin,
do you still train at Team Quest? “No,
that isn’t really practical for me because it’s about three hundred
miles from Medford, Oregon.” Are
you in contact with Mike Whitehead? “Yeah,
I talk to Mike usually about once every other week. He’s still a
good friend of mine and we get to train when he comes home for the
holidays because his parents still live here in Medford. It’s
good to keep in contact with him: He’s a good guy.” Yes,
he is. [Devin’s
young son, Elijah, generously contributes to the interview, but the
typewriter is unable to duplicate the sounds that haven’t quite formed
words yet.] “I
was supposed to have a babysitter tonight, but they had an emergency, so
I’m at home with my baby boy right now.” You
had a very busy schedule last year, competing in six bouts. Are
you committed to making it to the top? “Yes,
yes. And I like the schedule of fighting every other month –
every six to eight weeks is perfect, I think. Hopefully, I can
find a promotion that will stand behind me and give me those fights.
I feel like I can beat anybody in the world: I just need to find a home
and prove myself again. The regularity of the IFL competition was
nice because we were fighting every six to eight weeks and you would get
into fight peak, fight, and take a week off just to rest your body and
get focused again. You never really got out of shape because
you’d jump back in the gym and be right back on it. I liked that
– you never got out of shape or rusty, and you were always focused on
that next fight. “If you’re having trouble getting fights, like I am now, you don’t know what’s on the horizon so it’s kinda hard to stay motivated without a fight. I’m doing the best I can and I know something might pop up soon. Ricky Vasquez has been talking to a couple of the bigger promotions and they say they have me on their short list and I’m on the radar, so I stay ready so I can show them what I’m about.”
Of
those six fights, you lost one and drew one, then had rematches and won
both of them. Are there any other losses you’d like to avenge? “Honestly,
I feel I could beat any of those guys, and if the opportunity came to
fight them again, I’d love to, but I just want to fight. I’ll
fight anybody they put in front of me. I can’t say I want a
rematch with this guy or that guy because on that day they beat me, but
if I fight them again I’m confident I could win every one of those
fights. However, I’m focused on the future and not dwelling on
any losses.” Ideally,
you’d be competing full time rather than also holding down a job. “Ideally,
I think that’s everybody’s dream. Chael Sonnen is a good
friend of mine up there at Team Quest. He’s been making a big
stink about how people want to be pro fighters so they can train eight
to ten hours a day, and he says that’s impossible, which it is.
The good thing about not having a regular job is you can train whenever
you want. I could go do weights or my cardio at two in the
afternoon if I didn’t work. But I do work. Hopefully,
I’ll get back to where I can make enough money from competing so I can
schedule my workouts more sporadically throughout the day, rather than
all in the morning and the night. And I’d have more time to
spend with my family. Ricky (Vasquez) and I have set 2010 as a
year for me to really get out there and make it into a bigger show.” It’s
a shame the wheels fell off your bout with Chris Price. “Yeah,
I know. I only found out this evening… Supposedly, he got hurt
or something. It seemed a little weird to me: We’re still five
weeks out, and to pull out from a fight five weeks out due to an injury
is kind of weird to me. Unless he broke a leg or something, I
can’t really see any injuries that would hold you out of the fight
that far ahead. I’m kinda honestly questioning it a little bit,
but I guess I can’t question him… If he is hurt, I hope he heals up
quickly. But I was looking forward to that fight and I thought I
could beat him. He had a good name and that could get me back to
the place I need to be. It’s kind of a bummer… I started my
30-pound weight cut and I got down into the 20s. I was 229 this
morning and I started at 238 earlier in the week. I was really
working my tail off getting ready for that fight, and it’s kind of a
bummer that it’s not happening now.” Did
you lose much power with the drop in weight? “No,
I don’t think so, ’cause I’m a real athletic heavyweight. I
have Mike Dolce working with me – I’ll give a plug out to him and
you can check out the Dolce diet at www.mikedolcemma.com.
Mike works with Quinton Jackson and a lot of big-name people on their
diets and their weight cuts, and he’s amazing. He has a book
coming out, and if you want somebody to help you with your diet to cut
weight while maintaining your strength – he’s the man. Mike
also helps Chael Sonnen out, and if you saw his last fight (against Nate
Marquardt at UFC 109), Chael just looked so much bigger than Nate.” Chael
worked like a machine. “Yeah,
he looked unstoppable in that fight. He’s really turned it on.
I’m proud for him.” Devin,
is there anything you’d like to add? “Happy
birthday to my son, Elijah, who turns one on February 13th.” Devin
Cole’s sponsors? “Thank
you to Ricky Vasquez at Grudge Sports, Cesar Chavez at Bulldog Boxing,
Pete Loncarevich at Pistol Pete’s Lotus Club, Southern Oregon
University, Dustin at West Coast Collision, and Randy at Cooke
Cranes.” Hopefully, promoters will be able to pull an iron out of the coals and come up with a worthy match for Devin Cole, a dedicated athlete who is ready to lock horns with the best out there and provide an exciting fight for the fans.
DEVIN COLE
“It’ll Be Hard for Him to Put a Submission on if I’m Punching Him in the Face.”
©
Marc Wickert photos
© IFL Hailing
from Medford, Oregon, Devin Cole is an imposing heavyweight for the
Wolfpack, and he possesses a very strong wrestling background. “I’ve
wrestled my whole life – all the way from third grade, right up
through college, and after I finished my education there, I started
coaching at the same college: Southern Oregon University. I coached a
guy called Mike Whitehead from The Ultimate Fighter. I was his college
wrestling coach, and he got me started in it: He was already involved in
the MMA,” says Cole. On
July 9, 2005, Devin commenced his pro MMA career at the SF11: Rumble
on the Rose Garden event, where he defeated Ricco Hatting by
unanimous decision. And Cole continued to defeat such respected names as
Mike Kyle, Carlos Cline and Travis Wiuff – quickly notching up an
impressive 6-1-0 record, with Devin’s only loss being by decision to
Jeff Monson. Devin’s
initiation into wrestling seems to have come about mainly through his
being in the right place at the right time, although he says wrestling
does run in the family, slightly: “It does a little bit: My brother
Darrin was a two-time Oregon State Champion, but there was a flier
around when I was in third grade, saying to come and try out: So I did.
And I fell in love with the sport.” With
names such as Ken Kesey, Randy Couture, and Matt Lindland having spent
so much of their careers in Oregon, it seems the state is fast becoming
known as the unofficial capital of American wrestling. And Devin
doesn’t baulk at this suggestion. “You know, it’s up there. There
are a couple: Nebraska, Iowa… that are known for their wrestling. But
Oregon is at least in the top five of the fifty states in the US.” In
2001, Devin became an All American, which was an achievement he looks
back on with great pride: “It was real nice. I was team captain and we
also won a national championship as a team. I’d actually broken my
thumb three weeks before the nationals, and had three screws put in it.
I ended up fourth in the nation for the All American, so I was happy.
The doctor told me I was done wrestling: It was my senior year, and I
just told him, ‘Bullshit’. “I wouldn’t have been happy with fourth place, but coming off surgery three weeks before the national, I was real happy.”
Devin,
was that Greco or freestyle wrestling? “It
was actually collegiate. America is the only country that still does
collegiate.” And
how did you become involved with IFL? “Randy
Couture got me. He’s kind of an idol for me, and he knew the ability I
had, and he got me involved with Maurice Smith and the IFL Tiger Sharks.
I was with the Tiger Sharks last season, but I chose to switch to the
Wolfpack this year. “I’ve
done pretty well with my career so far, and I’m actually fairly green
– I haven’t had that much coaching, I’ve just gone off my natural
ability and competitiveness. But it’s awesome here at Team Quest. My
wife and I are going to move from Medford, Oregon, up here to Portland.
And I’m going to try to do this fulltime and make a career of it.
Having Matt Lindland and Team Quest here behind me is amazing. They’re
great.” Have
you copped flack from Tiger Shark teammates for jumping ship? “Not
really. They understand that I’ve got to do what’s best for my
career. I became really good friends with all the team, and I actually
feel bad because we did have a bond. We did very well as a team, but
it’s better for me here, and they understand that.” Are
things good with your new team? “Yes. I’ve trained here for pretty much all my fights last season; I would leave home and come up here to train with Team Quest, two or three weeks before my fights – not just the ones now with IFL, so I already had a bond with most of the guys here, and I fit in pretty good with them.”
When
do you fight next? “September
9th against Allan Goes.” The
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter? “Yep. He’s a real good submission guy, and I’m looking forward to a real good fight… Just go after him and keep the pressure on. I’m quite a bit bigger that he is… Just wear him down and it’ll be hard for him to put a submission on if I’m punching him in the face. That’s my whole plan. “If
we were going into a jiu jitsu match, I’d say, hands down, he’s
going to kill me, but fighting’s not a jiu jitsu match. I’d be
scared going into a grappling match. However, it’s not a grappling
match: There are strikes. And that’s my game as well.” You touched on this before, but do you intend making MMA your life-long career, with maybe coaching other fighters down the track? “Yes.
I feel pretty lucky that this sport is really blowing up now. There were
not many people out there before who could say they were full-time
fighters… unless they were world champions, and still they weren’t
getting paid very much. “I
feel very blessed IFL is actually making it possible for us to train
full time and not have to hold another job. I’m thirty now, so I
figure I might have another six or eight years of being competitive left
in me. So if I can compete well, get my name built up, and get a school
later on… or maybe coach somebody else’s school… I feel very good
at where I’m at, making this my career and sticking with it.” Who
are the New World Fighters? “That’s
my team down at the Ultimate Training Center gym in Medford, Oregon,
where I live right now. And that’s my fight team that I previously
fought under. They got me to where I am today, and I really appreciate
it.” Devon,
is there anything you’d like to add? “I’d like to thank some people if I could: There’s Darrin and Lucinda Sparks – they’ve supported me throughout my career, and they’ve helped me reach the level I’m at right now; all my team partners at the Ultimate Training Center down there; Team Quest up here for preparing me; and most importantly, my wife Lyndsey.”
Devin
Cole’s stats: MMA nickname: D evinMMA
record: 6-1-0 Division:
Heavyweight Stance:
Orthodox Height:
6’4” Date
of birth: 1 Oct. 76 Birthplace:
Coos Bay, Oregon Home:
Medford, Oregon – soon to be Portland, Oregon Team:
Wolfpack. Coach:
Matt Lindland For more on Devin Cole: www.ifl.tv.
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