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Plenty of fight left
Ex-CSUB wrestlers Cobb, Travers extend careers with Mixed Martial Arts
| Monday, Sep 15 2008 10:19 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Sep 15 2008 10:24 PM
Brian Cobb and Bryan Travers were looking for ways to keep their competitive juices flowing once their collegiate wrestling careers ended at Cal State Bakersfield.
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Local ties: Former CSUB wrestler
Age: 27
Height: 5'11
Weight: 155
Mixed Martial Arts record: 14-5
Weight class: Lightweight
BRYAN TRAVERS
Local ties: Former CSUB wrestler
Age: 25
Height: 5'10
Weight: 170
Mixed Martial Arts record: 10-1
Weight class: Welterweight
Next match/location: Both are slated to fight separate bouts Sept. 26 at Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore.
Photos:
Bryan Travers, right, throws a kick at Brian Cobb during training for an upcoming mixed martial arts fight.
Bryan Travers, left, and Brian Cobb mix it up while training for an upcoming mixed martial arts fight.
Mixed martial arts fighters Bryan Travers, left, and Brian Cobb, both former CSUB wrestlers, stop for a quick portrait before resuming training for an upcoming fight.
Prior to the late 1990s, wrestlers typically had two options once their collegiate careers ended: become a coach or leave sports altogether and seek a job in the business world.
But Cobb and Travers have joined an increasing number of former college wrestlers who compete in an increasingly popular sport: mixed martial arts.
"I was just in the right place at the right time with the right frame of mind," said Cobb, 27. "I just said yes."
Travers tried competitive power lifting. "That wasn't physical enough for me, so I went to jiu-jitsu competition," he said. "That was a natural progression to MMA."
Without the MMA as a career option, Travers said, "I would have accumulated a large amount of student loans finishing my degree and I'd be chipping away at those, working whatever job I got with my kinesiology degree."
Cobb and Travers both compete for Palace Fighting Championship, which operates out of the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino near Lemoore. Both will fight Sept. 26 for PFC belts in their respective weight divisions.
MMA has a wide variety of fighting techniques. The three most common elements are Brazilian jiu-jitsu, grappling (which closely resembles wrestling) and kickboxing.
Cobb is 14-5 as a professional and Travers is 10-1. Cobb fights as a lightweight (155-pound limit) and Travers is a welterweight (170).
Cobb and Travers aren't the only former CSUB wrestlers to tackle MMA.
One of the most famous and wealthy MMA athletes, Tito Ortiz, wrestled for CSUB in 1998. Chuck Kim, Tony DeSouza, Roberto Vargas and Raphael Davis are other former Roadrunners who have tried it.
CSUB wrestling coach T.J. Kerr follows his former wrestlers when they compete in MMA but admits he's uncomfortable with it.
"The only thing I worry about is them getting hurt," Kerr said, although he added that none of the former CSUB wrestlers have been seriously injured thus far in an MMA event.
Cobb and Travers work on their wrestling skills in the CSUB wrestling room.
"I don't discourage it or promote it," Kerr said. "They basically follow their own lead. If they get into it, I try to be supportive."
Kerr added: "With a lot of these guys, it's filling a void of competition which they can no longer go to. I know Cobb gets high on the stuff he does. He's one of those guys who needs that. That's part of him."
Cobb got his start at the urging of former UC Davis wrestler Urijah Faber, who is the top-ranked featherweight MMA competitor in the world.
"He wrestled my brother Dave and my twin brother Jarrett," Cobb said. "I was hanging out with them and he convinced me. 'Hey man, you should try it.'"
Having a wrestling background is a huge advantage, according to Cobb and Travers' striking coach, Eric Nolan.
"A lot of guys who are boxers can't hang with the wrestling takedowns," Cobb said. "They get on their backs and they don't know what to do."
Cobb added: "There are so many elements to wrestling that it takes years and years to get a feel for and then develop and then refine. Anybody can pick up a basketball, shoot it into a hoop and make it. Not everyone can go into a wrestling room and take everybody down. It doesn't work like that."
Nolan, who has trained boxers for more than 20 years, is relatively new to the MMA scene.
"The wrestlers who came onto the scene didn't have the jiu-jitsu, but they could take you down, put you on your back," Nolan said. "They were better conditioned because they were used to fighting for their spot on the team.
"Wrestling is going to produce at least 70 percent of the top MMA guys over 20 years."
Nolan added: "As a foundation, wrestling is the No. 1 element -- because of the takedown ability and their skill on the mat."
Kerr has even had prospective MMA athletes with little or zero wrestling experience contact him about having a crash course in wrestling.
"I had a couple of guys call me a couple of springs ago," Kerr said. "They go, 'Can I come and train with you and learn how to wrestle?'
"I tell them it's not going to happen. You could do a little bit in junior high and start in high school. But you've got to wrestle in high school and get a feel for it before you get here or you're going to get hammered."
Cobb and Travers hope the Sept. 26 competition will further their ultimate MMA goal: to reach the highest level, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
"My only loss was at 185 pounds to a guy who just won his UFC debut," Travers said. "It's around the corner."
Cobb is on the UFC radar. He was set to be a last-minute fill-in on CBS TV's Elite XC event on July 26, but was not allowed to compete when his participation was not approved by the California State Athletic Commission. His scheduled opponent, David Douglas, had only four pro fights compared to Cobb's 19.
Douglas ultimately KO'd his opponent, Marlon Mathias, in 12 seconds of the first round.
"He's climbing up, being more of a featured fighter," Mike Mendoza, CSUB's assistant wrestling coach, said of Cobb.
For Travers, it's a matter of working hard.
"I've dedicated 100 percent of my life to this, so I'm going to go until I find out if I can be the best in the world or not," Travers said. "There really isn't a facet where I think I'm good enough. I don't care if I'm the UFC champion. I'll still try to hunt down the guy who can submit me, hunt down the guy who can kick me in the face.
"Guys who become complacent with who they are drop off the end real quick. I don't want to be that guy."