A TRUE FIGHTER

Cole Escovedo has fought his way back into the MMA scene.

By James Gilliland
VSP MMA Columnist:

Fresno, CA – Cole Escovedo (12-4) has been involved in martial arts since he was six years old.

“I’ve always been in karate or jiu-jitsu,” said Escovedo. “I never really swayed too much into traditional sports like other kids did.”

But he didn’t intend on being a fighter.

He first had aspirations of being a police officer and to stay in shape he began Mixed Martial Arts training. When the police academy didn’t he work out he decided to fight as a way to make money.

Cole was one of the first fighters to compete in World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC). He would become the first WEC featherweight champion defeating Philip Perez by triangle choke.

“It was my first title I had ever won,” said Escovedo. “That was the biggest fight in my career at that point.”

Cole was undefeated for his first seven fights, until he lost to Bao Quach by decision in Gladiator Challenge. He would continue to defend his belt in WEC until he lost to Urijah Faber.

Two weeks later, he lost to UFC Veteran, Jens Pulver in the now defunct International Fight League.

Cole has trained at Pacific Martial Arts his entire career alongside local fighters, Doug “The Rhino” Marshall and “Kid Dynamite” David Espinosa.

Those sessions were close to never happening.

In 2006, Escovedo contracted a staph infection in his arm that was mistreated numerous times and turned into MRSA, which had spread to his lower back.

“It got to the point where I couldn’t sit, sleep, and walk. I couldn’t do anything without being in constant pain,” said Escovedo. “It was an unbearable pain consistently, I was screaming and I’ve had my hand and eye broken in one fight this doesn’t compare to the pain I felt.”

After being admitted to the hospital four different times and talking to neurosurgeon. The problem was found on his spine and surgery was performed, but that wasn’t the end of it.

“The doctor said he would be happy if I walked right,” said Escovedo.

That didn’t sit well for Cole who wanted to start training again. When he was healthy enough, he began teaching at L.A. Boxing.

“After teaching for a while I realized that my body was kind of rehabbing on its own,” said Escovedo. “The more I trained, the more I taught, the more I realized I could do more.”

He kept pushing himself the limits and finally got back into shape, but he kept pushing order to get in fight shape.

After nearly three years, he returned to MMA fighting Michael McDonald in the Palace Fighting Championship.

“That was the first fight back after the surgery and it was going to answer all the questions on whether I could fight anymore.”

The answer was yes as he dominated McDonald the whole fight winning in the second round by technical knockout by way of ground and pound.

“After the surgery and the layoff it gave me the ability to train really hard for the first time. And to come back and show that if I want to keep fighting I can keep fighting.”

Besides beating Philip Perez earlier in his career to be the first WEC lightweight championship belt, Escovedo says his return fight against McDonald was one of his biggest fights of his career.

Cole will be fighting for the second time in two months this Saturday, June 27 at the Fresno Fairgrounds in “Disturbing the Peace.”

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