Conor Cooke has certainly been about in the world of combat sports over the last 20 years.
The Northern Irishman has titles in kickboxing, boxing and MMA, but is now on the verge of championship status in Conor McGregor’s BKFC promotion.
In fact, his victory over Matthew Hodgson at BKFC 68 in Newcastle on Saturday night should’ve crowned him the new British light heavyweight champion.
But the 37-year-old had missed weight for the 185lb bout ahead of the Newcastle event at Utilita Arena, therefore he was not in a position to be crowned the new champion.
BKFC 68 Newcastle witnessed Agi Faulkner be crowned the new European heavyweight champion after a sensational main event brawl with Oscar David.
Cooke was victorious in the co-main event, while BKFC minority owner McGregor was left speechless after Ben Bonner brutally knocked out Lewis Keen on the main card.
‘Da Crook’ has been heavily involved in combat sports now for many years, so he has the experience to get back on track in order to eventually claim the 185lb UK strap.
He first ventured into the bare-knuckle world in 2023 after going undefeated in three professional boxing fights, making his debut at BKFC 40 in November of the same year.
Before this, Cooke had a professional MMA career where he went six wins and seven losses during arguably the most interesting period of his career.
“He trained with me,” Cooke said, when asked about his time spent with current UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones during his MMA days.
“I went over over for four weeks, lived in the gym Jackson Wink [MMA Academy], and Jon came down one day and we done a wee bit of work together.
“A bit of sparring, a bit of grappling and he was happy enough. He wanted me to hang about, I was holding my own, but we’re big dudes it was surreal – he’s a fan. I’m a big fan, sorry!”
The most fascinating aspect of Cooke’s early MMA interactions with Jones isn’t even his training, but rather his first encounter with the UFC heavyweight champion.
Jones fights Stipe Miocic on November 17 for the main event of UFC 309, with Michael Chandler facing Charles Oliveira in a five-round co-main event at Madison Square Garden, New York City.
“The first interaction I had with him, he pulled a gun on me,” Cooke added.
“I was sitting getting changed and I had a pair of training tights on. He pulled the gun and told me to take the tights off – jokingly – and I go, ‘you’re lucky you’ve got that gun.’
“Other than that, we were just chatting about fighting and stuff. It was just like, we’re there, we’re business, we’re both fighters, we’re in the same gym just passing, chatting training with each other and about our merry way.
“He called me Irish Russian for years, he called me the big Russian, but it was surreal. I was starstruck.
“I remember being in his guard a couple of times, just staring at him, he thought I wasn’t listening, but I was listening.
“It was just like: ‘I’m in Jon Jones’ guard’ and we were sparring each other, it was some experience that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”
Cooke was the favourite going into his fight with Leeds fighter Hodgson and came out on top after five two-minute rounds inside the squared circle.
The Antrim man started on the back foot as Hodgson pressed him from the first bell, seemingly aiming to put his opponent to the canvas early.
Both men traded blows but as the fight went on Cooke emerged as the more technical fighter and started to piece Hodgson up.
Hodgson tried to catch Cooke with flash combinations, but the latter was patient and able to pick his moments more successfully than the Leeds man.
As the fight approached the later rounds Hodgson was a bloody mess and really fought his heart out as he probably thought he was losing the fight.
Both fighters embraced at the end of the bout after an intense stare down during the weigh-ins the night before.
All three judges scored the contest 50-45, declaring Cooke as the winner.
After the bout, Cooke said: “I had the best of my life coming in, but I got the win… 60 G’s baby!
“If I had the belt on my waist I would’ve called out Jared Warren.”
Warren is the current BKFC world light heavyweight champion. He has won seven of his nine bare-knuckle bouts in McGregor’s promotion.
