Barberton wrestler Cobey Fehr Jr. chases UFC dream of becoming MMA superstar

For two years, Barberton native Cobey Fehr Jr. has been living in Las Vegas, training like mad to become a mixed martial arts champion. In the MMA world, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has the highest profile, and that's the title he wants.

It's an ambitious goal for the former Barberton High School wrestler who flirted with a state wrestling championship before falling to an opponent who became a college champ. Fehr took third in the state that year, his senior year, going on to acquire his degree at Notre Dame College in Euclid. In college, he became an All-American wrestler.

In a phone interview Monday from his home in Vegas, Fehr said his bachelor's degree may be in education and history, but his "doctorate" is in wrestling and mixed martial arts.

It's an education in a brutal, increasingly popular sport that mixes, as its name suggests, two fighters trained in various martial arts, pitting them in a ring together and turning them loose. Fehr is 2-0 as a professional, and plans to be 5-0 by the end of the year. At that point, he can begin his UFC run.

"It's one of the most difficult jobs in the world," Fehr said. "If you're lucky, you get out of there with a broken hand. I don't plan after-parties because I plan on probably going to the hospital."

Back in the Magic City, Fehr has a committed group of followers, starting with his parents and two siblings. But his network of fans extends throughout the community, growing as his MMA reputation grows. They help keep him going and helped him get his start in Vegas.

In a Jan. 7 MMA Junkie article for USA Today Sports, Fehr was named a top MMA national prospect.

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"If you ask anyone at Xtreme Couture MMA in Las Vegas about up-and-coming prospects, Cobey Fehr is usually the first name that will come out of people’s mouths — and for good reason," MMA writer Dan Tom said.

Barberton roots

That's not news to Fehr's dad, Cobey Fehr Sr., who said in an interview at his Barberton home last week that his son has been driven to win since his introduction to wrestling as a child.

"He started wrestling in Barberton when he was 4," Fehr said. "He kind of went nuts after that."

Nuts, as in wanting to be the best.

"He was always a real intense kid," Fehr said. "He would run sprints after a football loss."

Jason Morr, who became Barberton High School wrestling head coach after Fehr's wrestling days for the Magics were over, has known him since Fehr was a baby. He said that Fehr was always motivated, but stepped up the intensity his last year in high school.

"Going into his senior year, we couldn't get him off the mat," Morr said.

Morr, who talks to Fehr every week or two, said the teenage Cobey and the 28-year-old MMA fighter share the same drive.

"He wants to be the champ of whatever he gets into," Morr said. "He wants to be the best. He wants to be No. 1."

As Fehr trains in Vegas, he hasn't forgotten his Barberton roots, his father and Morr said. Or his family.

He's fond of thinking about what he will do for his brother and sister when he hits it big, the senior Fehr said.

The fighter will say things like "'I'm going to buy Alice a horse' or 'I'm going to buy Cannon a jet-ski,'" his father said.

At Fehr's Corner Cafe in Barberton, owned by the senior Fehr, memorabilia illustrating the younger Fehr's achievements line the walls. Talk at the West Tuscarawas Avenue bar often turns to the Barberton wrestler-turned-MMA fighter.

"I cannot go anywhere in this town without having a conversation about Cobey," his father said.

'He always let me come back'

Cannon Fehr, Cobey's younger brother, said his older brother would let his competitiveness slide when they were kids. After running up the score on Cannon, Cobey would suddenly falter.

"We used to play football in the back yard," Cannon Fehr said. "He would always let me come back to win."

Cobey Fehr Jr. said he remembers an incident when he and Cannon were younger.

"Me and my little brother and this girl went to a movie theater," Fehr said. "He was six. I was in eighth grade."

Cannon fell in the middle of the theater and other kids there laughed, but big brother wasn't having any of that. He challenged everyone laughing to put up or shut up.

"I wasn't a fighter (then)," he said. "(But) over my little brother, I was ready to fight the whole theater."

A Barberton work ethic

Fehr said his intensive training in Vegas is grounded in his Northeast Ohio upbringing.

"Since I was a kid, I was always around tough, durable, middle-class working guys," he said. "That's where I got my work ethic from. Those are the kind of people I copied."

He's hoping to fight in Abu Dhabi next, possibly in March, he said. He's planning to move into the flyweight division as his career develops.

Even as he trains for the top, however, Fehr said he remains nostalgic about his home.

"I miss my family, I miss my home, I miss the smell of the air," he said. "I miss the smell of freshly mowed grass… Here there are no trees, no water. I especially miss that."

If he does reach the top of the MMA world, he will reach it by clawing his way from the bottom after his move out West.

"I packed all my stuff and I had $4 in my dollar in my wallet," he said.

Sponsors from Northeast Ohio, a committed girlfriend, a border collie and his personal drive have kept him going.

"I'm training with the top guys in the world," he said. "If I keep on the trajectory I'm on, I'm going to be the UFC champion."

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Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Barberton wrestler Cobey Fehr Jr. aims Bfor top of UFC MMA ranks,