IFL Sabres’ new heavyweight representative, Wayne Cole, is in Los Angeles after just finishing training for the day.

On June1, the new Sabres team will be testing its strength against the Wolfpack, and Wayne Cole is preparing to go to war with Devin Cole in what is already a highly anticipated match-up.

Having grown up in Norman, Oklahoma, Wayne now lives with his family at Malibu Beach, California. “I was born in Marion, Indiana, but I moved to Norman when I was five, which is where I was raised, so I consider myself to be from Oklahoma,” says Cole.

Perhaps it was due to being a young lad in a family of nine children that led to Wayne’s taking up wrestling and then later becoming very successful in the sport. “I became an All-American wrestler in 1990, while studying physical education at Oklahoma University. I wanted to be a coach in wrestling back then – I still want to be a coach when I finish pro fighting – but I’ll probably be an MMA coach when my competitive career is over. I want to open my own gym eventually and train other athletes.”

Wayne’s background in wrestling later encouraged him to try his hand at some local Toughman competitions, where he fought three 1-minute rounds, wearing 16-oz gloves and headgear. Cole won both matches he entered.

“The promoters for the Toughman events also did promotions for mixed martial arts, and they knew I had a wrestling background and asked me if I wanted to fight in MMA. I started fighting MMA two and a half years ago, and I’ve been fighting ever since.

“Then the Sabres were looking for a heavyweight replacement (for John Marsh), and my manager sent them some tapes. The coach contacted me and I flew out here to LA and made the team.”

Wayne, you have a loss to Tom Jones and a victory over Keith Richards. Did it worry you to fight people with names like that?

(Laughs) “I’ve never thought about it like that. But there are a lot of Tom Joneses in Oklahoma. That was my second fight: It was a championship fight, and Tom Jones held the title. I really don’t believe they thought I had a chance against him.

“If you see the tape, I beat him up the whole first two rounds, but I didn’t have enough stamina, so he beat me up the next two rounds. I’ve been trying to fight him again, but I could never get a rematch and he moved down to 185, then he moved back up. I’ve never got a rematch, but as I say, it was only my second fight and I’d love to fight him again.”

What’s Ken Yasuda like as a coach?

“He’s a great guy, and a great motivator. He’s taught me so much. I taught myself for two and a half years – this is the first organized training I’ve had. The motivation he gives me at every practice: He takes time to get personal with everybody on the team… He takes me out to lunch, and he’s taken a few guys out to golf. He’s just a great guy and I think that’s why the team is doing so well.

“We’ve got a good leader who keeps us all focused, and he taught me what I needed to learn. I’d been street fighting: I never had any formal boxing training. I’m just learning so much and he’s the one teaching me.”

Does he push you hard?

“Yes; definitely, definitely. He knows how to motivate you and get the most out of you.”

Wayne Cole and Antoine Jaoude at weigh-in

You lost your first IFL match to Antoine Jaoude. Did you learn a lot from that bout?

“I certainly did. I had it in my mind that Antoine couldn’t punch – that he was all wrestling because he was on the Olympic wrestling team for Brazil, and I was beating him at wrestling. But he hit me with a good punch, man, and he won the fight, so I can’t take anything from him. But I definitely learnt from the experience. You’ve got to be focused on all aspects of the fight. One punch can decide a fight – especially at heavyweight.”

Did you walk away from it feeling positive?

“I knew I gave a good fight, and they awarded me Fight of the Night despite my losing, so I felt honored. That was a big compliment. But I never like to lose, and I had thirty people from Oklahoma who came to see me fight, and I felt like I let them down. It took me a while to get my head back up, but I’m focused now and training hard to be ready for the next one.”

But you said you were beating him at wrestling and it sounds like you got a lot of positive things from your first IFL bout.

“Yes, and when I saw it on TV, that’s when I was proud of myself, because I did put on a good show for the first round, and it was nice to see myself on TV. The IFL has good exposure – they have 95 percent of America’s households. A lot of my family who’d never seen me fight got to see me. They live in New York, St. Louis, Missouri and all over the nation… Even though I lost, it was nice that they got to see me fight.

“I’ve been fighting for two and a half years and I finally made it to the major league. Everybody’s real proud of me, regardless of the loss, and they’re looking forward to seeing me fight again.”

Who are your main training partners?

“Vladimir (Matyushenko); we go tough every day. He’s a national champion wrestler, so we have good battles – good workouts.”

Does Antonio McKee act as counselor for the Sabres?

“He’s like the team leader, man: Out of everybody, he’s probably taught me the most. He works us out hard: He runs the early morning practices that we do, and he’s really big on stamina – we do a lot of sprints, a lot of sparring… He’s a good guy too.”

I love him. He had me laughing for the entire interview; he’s such a funny guy.

“Yeah, he is.”

On June 1, the Sabres take on the Wolfpack, who are a very respected team. Will this be a true test to see just how good the new Sabres are?

“Yeah, and although we’re pretty sure we’re going to get into the play-offs, these guys were in the finals last year, and we want to beat them, and beat them decisively. We know they’re tough – every match is tough from 155 up to heavyweight. But our team is tough enough, and we might go in there and beat them 4-1 or something.”

What are you expecting from Devin Cole?

“Probably a lot of wrestling; he got his nose broke so I don’t know if he’ll want to stand up. I’ve been working really hard on my stand-up: I definitely don’t want to get caught with any more right hands. And I definitely want to use my boxing to exploit my punching ability, because I know I hit hard. I’ve been learning a lot in this last month. I want to keep it to him on the feet, but I’m sure he’ll want to take it to the ground.”

Wayne, is there anything you’d like to add?

“Signing with the IFL and the Tokyo Sabres has changed my life. I fought in a lot of shows in Oklahoma where I was the main event, and I never made as much money or got as much exposure as I’ve gotten from a fight I lost in the IFL, so it’s been a life-changing experience for me. I think we’ve got a team that’s diverse: three black guys, one Russian, and one Japanese – on a Japanese team; we’ve got a chance to win it all, and I’m pretty sure we will. I’m just grateful. And I want to thank the fans for their support – there are a thousand of them in Oklahoma.”

 
Wayne Cole of Team Sabres (blue trunks) lands a punch to Antoine Jaoude of Team Condors
( Green trunks) during the International Fighting League at The Forum on March 17, 2007 
in Inglewood, California.