Dale Cook

Dale Cook (born November 24, 1958) is an American former kickboxer who competed in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions. With a background in karate and taekwondo, Cook debuted professionally in 1977 and spent the early part of his career as a full contact rules fighter, winning the PKA World Middleweight Championship. In the 1980s, he began fighting under Oriental and Muay Thai rules and took two world titles under the WKA banner. A short stint in shoot boxing towards the end of his career in the mid-1990s resulted in another world title in that discipline. An occasional actor, Cook also starred in several action-oriented B-movies in the early 1990s. Career Nicknamed Apollo, Dale Cook began practicing martial arts with taekwondo at the age of fifteen and eventually earned the rank of seventh degree black belt. After taking up kickboxing, he turned professional in 1977 and rose to prominence when he won the PKA World Middleweight Championship. Having fought exclusively under the full contact rule set in the beginning of his career, he later ventured into Oriental rules in the 1980s. He won his second world title and the first with low kicks on June 12, 1987, when he knocked out Donald Tucker in the first round to claim the WKA world middleweight (-72.5 kg/159.8 lb) title. Following this, he added the WKA super middleweight (-76 kg/167.6 lb) strap to his mantle.