Koch earns first KO in WEC bout

 By Kerry Howley

          LAS VEGAS -- Francisco “Cisco” Rivera isn't the opponent Erik Koch trained for, but you wouldn't have known it watching the Cedar Rapids native clobber his fellow featherweight in Las Vegas during Thursday night's televised WEC 52 fight card.

            The solidly pro-Cisco crowd watched in horror at the Palms Casino as Koch finished the Californian, funneling two months of training into little more than a minute of relentless striking. After knocking Cisco flat with a high kick, Koch pounced. Cisco failed to defend himself against Koch's blows, and the match was stopped at 1:36.

          “That was perfect,” the 22-year-old Koch said moments after his win. “That was a pretty good kick.”

            “He followed the game plan to a T,” added coach Duke Roufus. “The plan was to kick him in the head.”

            Koch has been dreaming of a knockout win. This, his first in the WEC since his debut in December of 2009, was impressive enough to win “Knockout of the Night”-a $10,000 bonus on top of the $8,000 payout.

            Koch goes by the nickname “New Breed” to indicate his membership in the first generation of fighters proficient in all aspects of MMA. He is now 3-1 in the WEC, 11-1 overall.  Koch's original opponent, Josh Grispi, was pulled from the bout at the last minute and handed a fight with title holder Jose Aldo.

            With another easy win to his name, Koch hopes one day to have a shot at the same belt. “I want to make a run at the 45 (145-pound) title,” says Koch. “I feel great at this weight, I felt great today.”

            At 5 feet, 9 inches, Koch is a towering 145-pounder. He moves with the kind of effortless flow you can't teach and has a comfort level with both striking and grappling true to his nickname. But perhaps what's most dangerous about Koch is his refusal to entertain the possibility of any other kind of life.  As a 16 year old, Koch says, “I just started to train 6 or 7 hours a day. People say you should have a back-up plan-go to school, get a part time job. But if I have a backup plan I might be tempted to back out. At the end of the day I'd never reach my full potential, just doing a bunch of different things. Playing it safe. I want to take a shot at being the best in the world.”

            Roufus thinks that's a perfectly realistic 5-year plan. “He's got all the tools. He's good at everything he's young, he trains hard, he is a good student of the game.“

            It was Keoni Koch, Erik's older brother and head coach of Cedar Rapid's Team Hard Drive, who introduced him to mixed martial arts. Keoni was cultivating a deep knowledge of the sport back when it was marketed as “sports entertainment” and the acronym “MMA” had yet to exist.  He and Erik were trading blows early on. “That's where I get may toughness,” says Erik. “Brothers don't hold back, they go after each other.”

            Having recently moved to Milwaukee to train under Roufus, Koch has developed a strong bond with fellow Roufus-protégé and rising WEC lightweight Anthony Pettis. The two are roommates and training partners. Koch says he'll spend the next month helping Pettis train for his December 14

           “We want to have two champions in the same house,” says Koch. “I'm gonna party hard tonight, and as soon as I get back I'm gonna be in the gym helping him get ready.”

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fight against Ben Henderson.