Germany’s Jamie Cordero just had his second child, is opening a new gym, and pursuing a title in Oktagon MMA’s middleweight division, where he’ll compete once again at Oktagon 72 this weekend, taking on David Hosek.
Fatherhood, as it has for many fighters, has changed Cordero (8-2, 1NC), very clearly for the better.
“I think it changed my drive and my motivation to work harder, and get to a point where this whole thing creates a better future for my kids,” Cordero told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview during Oktagon 72’s Fight Week. “It’s definitely motivation, it’s just motivation. A different kind of feeling from before. Before, I was fighting for myself or for fun, now I’m also fighting for them.”
Cordero is a calculated fighter who would go in-depth in his breakdown of Hosek. There’s a reason for that, given Jamie Cordero is both opening a gym and has been coaching for a while now. Coaching, in fact, is where his future after fighting lies.
“Exactly, that’s the plan. I’m already coaching now but it’s definitely something different when you have to prepare yourself for a fight and you can’t put 100% into coaching, because you have to put 100% also into the fight. But as soon as I’m done with fighting, I’m going to put 100% into my athletes. I have some very talented guys.”
The goal, added Cordero, is to “make them the new stars in Germany.”
Coaching has helped make Cordero himself a better fighter, and it’s something he suggests others in the sport try out. “Sometimes I recommend fighters to teach or to coach, because sometimes while you’re trying to teach or explain it [a technique] to someone, you get to new areas of that technique that you didn’t even think of before. Coaching is definitely a thing that can bring a fighter to the next level.”
As for his breakdown of Hosek, he suggested his opponent was “really pretty one-sided or one-dimensional. He always uses pretty much the same techniques, in his last fights, except for the weird triangle he did last time, but that was like, I don’t know what that was.” Beyond that, Hosek “always throws his left hook, his right overhand. He boxes a lot, and doesn’t kick a lot. Easy to read, easy to see some holes in his defense. I have many options I guess, for me to finish.”
Watch our full interview with Oktagon 72 middleweight Jamie Cordero above.
