Miquel Cooley has
his hands full
The 37-year-old father, after a hard days’ work washing windows, comes home to five rowdy boys and two beautiful daughters.
The 37-year-old journeyman fighter Saturday has his hands full Saturday night with B.J. “Da Beast” Lacy, a seasoned mixed-martial-arts brawler who at one time was the Dakota Fighting champion in the lightweight division.
Cooley and Lacy are part of the undercard Saturday(Feb. 18) as Fargo’s Scheels Arena and CFX (Cage Fighting Extreme) host Winter Brawl. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. and closes with a band, dancer and mixer for fighters and fans.
Chris Nelson, a promoter and matchmaker for the event, said that as of Wednesday fewer than 600 walk-up tickets remain.
Nelson said this is a big opportunity for Fargo-Moorhead’s Cooley. “He’s fought some pretty big guys in this sport,” Nelson said.
Cooley is one of the pioneers of this barbaric sport that combines boxing, wrestling and a plethora of mixed martial arts disclipline. He’s a guy who grew up in Devils Lake and Grand Forks, N.D., playing football and wrestling. He wrestled also for a year at Oak Grove High School in Fargo and attended Concordia College.
Cooley is one cool dude. His boys and girls range from ages 12 to 3. He loves his kids and loves to fight. Cleaning windows keeps him flexible. Five nights a week at Fargo’s Academy of Combat Arts keeps him sharp.
He loved watching UFC fights (the top league of the sport) as a youngster, renting VHS tapes to see the bouts.
Cooley earned his toughness training as a boxer in Grand Forks. He also learned the discipline of ju jitzu.
Cooley figures he’s been in the cage 70 times since 2004, coming out the winter better than half the time. He’s seen paydays of $50 and now has a shot as up to a $1,000 for this fight. He’s had broken bones and torn knee ligamints. Concussions.
In an interview over ice tea at the FryNPan, he said he’s 5 feet, 11 inches tall, 205 pounds. Cooley will eat and sauna his way down to 185 pounds before a weigh-in for his Fargo fight.
Jumping rope. Eating right. Brown rice. Spinich with lemon juice. Broccoli. Fish. Chicken breast. Whey protein. Multivitamins. Wheat germ and oatmeal. Flax seed and flax seed oil. Angel hair pasta. Olives. Lots and lots of water.
He’ll be ready. “I still feel like I’m 20,” Cooley said. Saturday night he will climb into that cage, knock gloves with Lacy and get down to business. Five minutes after it’s over, he and Lacy will be best of buds. But for three, short, yet incredibly long for the fighter, periods of five minutes each, they will be at war.
“You’re there for a reason,” Cooley said. “When that fight instinct turns on, then its Jekyl and Hyde, I guess you could say.”