Chris Cope

TRAINING: My training schedule at the Arena in San Diego has been the same for the most part, with just harder sparring and conditioning. I’m always training and always doing my best to hone my craft. All I really focus on is training hard, listening to my coaches, and, more than anything, having fun :). I still work 40 hours a week at the Law Firm and I train at lunch time and after work. It’s crazy because I’m still able to train about 3.5-4 hours a day M-F and then I do about two hours on Saturday, so I guess you can say I have been pulling 12 hour days and working 6 days a week. On a typical day of training, I wake up at 6:15 and get to work at 7. I then work till about noon and hit the gym for striking for about an hour. I get off work at 4 and then train pro practice at the arena from 4:10 to 5:30, then I do either wrestling/grappling from 5:30-6:30, then after that I either work strength/conditioning 3 days a week or run 3 days a week. I take Sundays off and I like do this thing called adventure Sunday, where I will do a non-fight related adventure like skydiving, surfing, rock climbing, etc. I used to drink myself into oblivion on Sundays, but since I’m in recovery, I don’t get to indulge my alcoholic tendencies anymore. I’ve been sober for 13 months now. Woooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!! I tell you what, my life sober is 10x better than what it used to be and I wouldn't have been able to accomplish what I have in the last year if it wasn't for my sobriety. That is why this fight is pretty cool because Matt Brown is clean from prior drug use and I’m sober from alcohol, so I guess in a way it’s like a battle between two men that have both battled with substance abuse.

When and why did you start training for fighting? I started training in fighting when I was 8 years old, doing karate, and I received my black belt in taekwondo when I was 15. In 2003 I started doing kickboxing and then transitioned into MMA in 2006. Made my pro debut in 2007.

What ranks and titles have you held? I have a blue belt in BJJ and I won the IKF light cruiserweight Muay Thai kickboxing title

Do you have any heroes? My heroes are anyone that has stood up for what they believed in and has made the world a better place. Bruce Lee, Malcolm X, Abe Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Muhammad Ali, My Parents, Michael Jordan, Martin Luther King, Sylvester Stallone, Tony Robbins, Warren Buffet etc.

What does it mean for you to fight in the UFC? Fighting for the UFC is one of my three goals obtained. They are: fight for the UFC at least once, fight in Japan, and win a belt in a major organization.

Did you go to college and if so what degree did you earn? I graduated from the University of Southern California at Santa Barbara. I majored in Sociology and minored in psychology

What was your job before you started fighting? I work at a Law firm now and I will always work no matter how big I get in fighting. My dream is to be a professional MMA fighter and a lawyer at the same time. Best of both worlds because I can beat people up mentally in court and then beat them down physically in the cage or ring.

Favorite grappling technique: Everything. I love it all

Favorite Striking technique: I love every striking technique. My whole goal is to just constantly evolve in fighting and get better, so I’m constantly trying to learn as much as I can. There is so much to learn and infinite ways to get better in a sport that is constantly evolving.