Augie's Ultimate Fighter (Ty Copsey)

by KDLT Sports
August 23, 2010 6:02 PM


Blood, sweat, but no fear entered the ring at Huset's Speedway recently with the first ever MMA fights held outside at the site.

The card included Augustana All-American wrestler Tyler Copsey who decided to pick up Mixed Martial Arts and drop down anyone who entered the ring against him.

"I don't like getting hit so we try to stop that," said Copsey.  "So far I've trained for maybe a month, its a different kind of training actually to be honest with you its much different than wrestling and its something to get used to in the future."

Copsey, who finished second at the Division II Nationals last March says the hard work, and determination have helped him with his passion for ultimate fighting.

"Wrestling prepares you for just about anything," said Copsey.

Taking his skills from the mat to the ring, Copsey had more experience than his opponent Cody Gardner.

I didn't want to take that guy down knowing he had no background of wrestling at all. I've been doing it for quite a while, so I just kind of wanted to see where I was with striking and try that out for a bit.

Copsey, who still has one season left of wrestling, felt this was a natural progression for his career.

"You know you have the college football then you have the pros in the NFL," said Copsey.  "I kind of fell into it.  College wrestling then its pretty much the next thing is going to be ultimate fighting."

First Copsey is going to focus on receiving his teaching degree in the spring..

But who knows?

The more he learns about the sport, the more interest he may have in ultimate fighting when he's not teaching in the classroom.