Cooper finds home in middleweight class
By BOB EMANUEL JR. | Scripps Howard News Service
Brett Cooper experimented with hockey and other sports as a child, but there was always something about mixed martial arts.
“I always liked martial arts growing up,” he said. “Once I got old enough to be able to drive, to be able to get myself places, that’s when I started training.”
Cooper turned pro in 2005 and worked his way to a contract with the now-defunct Affliction promotion in 2009. He signed with Bellator 15 months later and lost his first bout to Steve Carl in the opening round of Bellator’s second season welterweight tournament. The loss convinced Cooper to alter his approach, and he moved up to middleweight.
“At the time I did do the 170 tournament, I was contemplating going to 185 because I just walked around bigger,” Cooper said. “I was growing. I was only 22 at the time. I was just getting bigger. I was around almost 200 pounds … I figured I needed to do what I was going to do, which is go up to 185. It just seemed to be a better place for me to be at.”
Since he made the shift, Cooper forged a 7-1 record, with his lone loss to current Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko. And that came after some bad breaks.
Cooper needed “seven or eight stitches” to close a cut two weeks before the bout. Then days later, he fell ill and was hospitalized just a week out from the fight. Despite the obstacles, Cooper still took the fight but lost via decision.
“He’s a tough guy, and he kept coming,” Cooper, 18-7, said. “I was just exhausted. It was a really tough experience. I knew I had nothing in the tank, and I kept going. If I win the tournament, it’ll be different.”
To reach Shlemenko again, Cooper must first defeat Dan Cramer in the main event of this week’s Bellator 92 at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif. A victory would propel Cooper into the finale against the winner of the Doug Marshall vs. Sultan Aliev bout.
QUICK JABS: MMA fans who think they can score rounds as easily as cageside judges can have their votes heard. Bellator released an app last week to allow fans to score the fights as a collective unofficial fourth judge with the majority decision featured during telecasts. The app, which is only available for Apple products, also delivers real-time statistics and other fight-related data. “At Bellator, we continually look for new ways to connect with our fans in a more meaningful way,” Bellator chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “This innovative app will resonate with our first-adopter audience who will feel closer to the action than ever before.” … UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, who was scheduled to defend his title against John Moraga at “The Ultimate Fighter 17” finale next month, will undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder later this week and will be sidelined for three months … Season seven featherweight tournament winner Shahbulat Shamhalaev will replace the injured Daniel Straus against Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran in the main event of next month’s Bellator 95. Straus, the season six tournament winner, broke a hand during training.
