Local fighter puts 3-0 record on the line when he squares off
against Cook in San Jose
By Cheeto Barrera
Staff Writer
San Jose – After three months of training and spending hours studying his opponent’s last fight, Daniel Puder says he is confident that he will win when he steps into the ring Friday night at the HP Pavilion against Mike Cook.
“I just feel bad for the guy because I am going to knock him out,” Puder said.
Both fighters will put their 3-0 mixed martial arts records on the line at Strikeforce’s “Triple Threat.”
Puder, a 25-year-old Cupertino native with family in Morgan Hill, formally wrestled in the WWE after winning the first “Tough Enough” reality series and earning him a $1 million prize in December 2004.
Puder’s last fight against Tommy Tuggle lasted 28 seconds when he put Tuggle in an arm bar and made him submit.
Cook’s last bout ended in a second-round submission after his opponent called it quits following a barrage of punches.
Puder said the real reason Cook won was because his opponent, Carlton Jones, ran out of energy following a series of mistakes.
“If you look at his last fight, (Cook) didn’t beat him up that bad,” Puder said. “I’d say (Jones) screwed up 10 to 15 times. He just got gassed.”
Puder said he is confident he will not make the same mistakes and will have the energy to last a full five rounds with Cook.
“I think I have a lot more technique,” Puder said.
He added that there will not be a whole lot he hasn’t seen when he faces Cook on Friday.
“It’s going to be a lot like my first fight in Japan – the guy pushed me and got very physical,” Puder said. “I’m just going to have to push (Cook) further than he will push me.”
Puder’s coach Lynn Schutz said his fighter is has a number of skills to draw from and will decide on a strategy to take on Cook after they enter the ring.
“If he wants to do it on his feet, we will take him to the ground,” said Schutz, who has been working in martial arts for 40 years, getting his start when he was 10 years old. “If he wants to fight on the ground, we will stand him up.”
Puder has been training with Schutz for the past three years at the American Kick Boxing gym in San Jose.
To prepare for the fight, Puder has subjected himself to a regimen of working out six days a week for the past three months, including sparing three days a week.
Puder said out of the three days, he will go hard in two of them, and a little lighter in the third.
The week leading up to the fight, Puder said he likes to take it easy and not train as hard. But one week before his scheduled match, he was still hitting the gym, sparing a full five rounds of five minutes.
The next day, Puder said he was very sore.
“Friday was especially hard,” Puder said.
Puder said he has been working out with different techniques and sparing with different fighters, including Cung Le who is included on the Friday night card.
He has also branched out in his styles of fighting, including Thai boxing, to prepare him for the match against Cook.
“I’m tying to improve my all-around skills,” Puder said. “I want to be able to stand up with anybody.”
Puder said after the fight, he is going to take it easy for a while, but is still looking to the next challenge.
He said his next goal is to take on gold medalist and professional wrestling star Kurt Angle.
Puder, who will don an “I hurt Kurt” sweater, left little doubt that he is not scared to match up against Angle.
“He’s a great athlete,” Puder said. “But he’s not a fighter. He’s a wrestler – there’s a big difference.”
But until Puder can get his shot against Angle, he said he is going to do a little traveling and do some work for his charities.
For now, however, Puder is focused on putting on a show for his home crowd.
“I love fighting here,” Puder said. “That is why I have not gone to Japan or Russia. I enjoy fighting in my home town.”
