In Depth with Chris Cope

By: Brian Churchin

Chris “C-Murder” Cope, so far, has accomplished everything he’s wanted to accomplish in the Ultimate Fighter house this season. He’s flying under the radar, and has been underestimated by every opponent he’s faced. Shamar Bailey couldn’t take him down, and Javier Torres couldn’t land a solid shot. Both fighters were billed as very formidable opponents, and ended up falling victim to a slyly intelligent fighter that has stuck to his game plan since day 1.

Cope spoke to MMANonstop.com about his experience in the house this past week, and what we found was not just a fighter whose only form of communication was the Ric Flair “WOOOOO”, but rather, we found a calculated, professional mixed martial artist that never second guessed a single step he took.

Gone are the days of the meathead fighter that steps into the cage blindly swinging like Tank Abbott. They are being replaced by fighters that prepare for weeks and months, and in Cope’s case…years, to battle their opponents by hiding strengths, calculating moves and waging a mental war that precludes the actual trading of strikes.

Chris Cope stepped into the Ultimate Fighter house after failing to make the show on 3 previous attempts, and he successfully got the other fighters and coaches to look past his mental toughness and experience. Brock Lesnar even described him as “just Chris.” Two straight opponents walked overconfidently into the cage and expected to walk right through the unassuming fighter.

There’s much more to Chris “C-Murder” Cope than just being a pugilist. In our conversation, he delivered a message. “You can do anything you set your mind to, and no one can stop you if you just focus and listen to people who know more than you do.”

Check out the full interview with Chris Cope by clicking here, and you’ll learn about the advice he took from Dominic Cruz and Brock Lesnar that helped him get to where he is as we go In Depth - Chris Cope.

You can look on Chris Cope’s Facebook wall and find the quote, “You can ride the wave or you can let the wave ride you.” On Wednesday, we’ll see where he takes that wave.

Check out the episode 2 of the MMANonstop.com Podcast with guest Chris Cope here

Follow Chris Cope on twitter at twitter.com/chriscope5 or check him out on facebook.