LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — MMA training is not easy, especially when you're being coached by well known trainer, Dewey Cooper.
"We're on an upward trajectory, and we plan to stay that way, and Chris Wade happens to be the first guy that's going to be victimized by that curvature," Cooper said.
You're going to kick hard, punch hard, and above all, you're going to sweat really hard.
PFL Featherweight, Bubba Jenkins, doesn't mind. In fact he enjoys the thrill, hence his nickname, "I am a Bad Man."
"Fighting is a way of life," Jenkins said. "Everyone has something to fight for."
Jenkins grew up in Virginia and was a standout wrestler at Penn state and Arizona State.
He transitioned to MMA and now trains at "One Kick's Gym" here in Las Vegas, with Cooper as his trainer.
Jenkins says he's a difference maker.
"Sometimes you just need that right motivator and the right person to speak your language to get you to combat the way you're supposed to," Jenkins said.
Cooper says he is all about building mental toughness and maintaining a "winning at all costs" mindset. So, he says he pushes Jenkins to his limit.
That way, when he steps in the octagon, he's ready for war.
"We try our best to put these fighters as hard as we can and take them to that threshold of quit, because that's where the real determination lies," Cooper said. "When you get them to that threshold of panic and walking off that plank and quitting, that's where that determination kicks in and they become super human."
Jenkins is 19-6 in his career and is coming off a great 2022 PFL season, coming up just short in the championship fight.
This year, he says he is new and improved. Cooper and Jenkins say this year is the revenge tour for them, and it starts April 1st.
"I'm going to do everything I can to walk in what I believe is my year. To walk in my season, to walk in what I know is to be my championship," Jenkins said.
