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While attending the University of Minnesota, Cole Konrad was a member of their Golden Gopher team wrestling team. He competed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) where he won the Division I wrestling championships in 2006 and 2007. In 2005 he won a gold medal at the Pan-Am games. With his wrestling pedigree, Konrad easily transferred his wrestling skills to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), while meeting some derision for winning mostly by decisions. Accompanied by Team Death Clutch training partners Chris Tuchscherer, Brock Lesnar and their head trainer Marty Morgan from Minnesota Martial Arts Academy, Konrad competed in MMA for the first time in January 2010. The event was held by Max Fights. Hamen initiated the action with a right push kick on Konrad. Konrad clasped his arms around Hamen's torso and took him to the ground against the fence. Konrad started with two short left elbows to Hamen's head, then right punches. Konrad continued up with more punches then applied a choke/neck crank to get the submission win a minute and seven seconds in the bout. His second fight happened that February at the inaugural Matrix Fights event in Philadelphia. There he defeated Joel Wyatt by technical knockout almost two and half minutes in the bout. Bjorn Rebney, CEO and founder of Bellator Fighting Championships (2009), was an attendee for that fight. In a post-fight interview Konrad announced his plans to sign with Bellator, which were confirmed by Rebney at the event.
Konrad had his third and fourth professional bouts in two non-tournament bouts in Bellator. Respectively, he fought Pat Bennett at Bellator Fighting Championships 17 (2010), then John Orr at Bellator Fighting Championships 22 (2010) to get unanimous decision victories in both fights. The two wins lead to Bellator announcing in July 2010 that he would be a competitor in the promotion's Season 3 Heavyweight Tournament to determine a heavyweight champion. In the tournament's quarterfinals, he face Rogent Lloret at Bellator Fighting Championships 25 (2010). After some early exchanges on the feet in the first round, Konrad took Llorent to the ground and end up in the half-guard to land strikes to the body. Llorent stood up and Konrad tried to submit him with a guillotine choke which Llorent escaped from. The stand up in the second round ended up on the cage and Llorent got out of a clinch initiated by Konrad. He took Llorent to the ground by using a leg trip. Llorent quickly stood up and received knees to his thighs. The third and final round had Konrad getting his quickest take-down in the bout when he caught a left kick from Llorent. Konrad won unanimously to advance to the semifinals where he fought Damian Grabowski in the main event of Bellator Fighting Championships 29 (2011). Konrad immediately took the double leg take-down at the start of the bout. He controlled Grabowski on the ground for the rest of the round. In round two, Konrad again controlled the action on the ground and made attempts at a kimura submission on Grabowski's right hand. In the last round it was Grabowski who quickly took Konrad to the ground. Cole swiftly reversed the position and ended up in his opponent's guard and maintained control for the rest of the fight to get the unanimous victory from the judges. The second tournament win made him a finalist against "Neil Grove' in the championship main event at Bellator Fighting Championships 32 (2010).
Both fighters circled each other for the first minute, then Konrad grabbed Grove and slammed him to the ground. Grove quickly stood up from the slam and escaped. A left front kick by Conrad, lead to front kick by Grove. Konrad ducked under Grove's left hook, rushed forward to get a double-leg take-down to the ground. Konrad struggled out of his opponent's half-guard until he got the full mount then attacked Grove's body with punches. Grove moved his body about to force Konrad off top. Konrad used the opportunity to bend Grove's right arm back for a kimura submission hold, increasing the pressure until Grove submitted near the end of round one. The victory won Konrad the Bellator Heavyweight World Championship.
In the interim of Bellator's focus on tournaments to crown title contenders in its other weight classes, Konrad fought Paul Buentello at Bellator Fighting Championships 48 (2011) in a non-title "superfight" bout. Leading up to the bout, Konrad expressed his intent on showcasing his stand-up striking abilities and did the unexpected by engaging Buentello, who is known for his knockout power and striking. In much of round one, the decorated wrestler was true to his plans and he stayed at the center of the cage where he hit Buentello with jabs and leg kicks. Buentello kept on the outside for most of the round, and land a right uppercut. A more aggressive Buentello moved forward at the onset of the second round and struck with Konrad. Konrad remained mostly at the center as Buentello circled looking for openings. Konrad landed a few punches and kicks. Buentello hit Konrad with a overhand right and was pushed against the cage. The action returned off cage with Konrad in the center. Buentello connected again and Konrad attempted to clinch. Both fighters exchanged a few strikes near the end of the round. In round three, Buentello punched Konrad who then countered with a hook which knocked Buentello to the ground. Konrad jumped on top and landed punches while controlling Buentello's back. Konrad attempted a rear-naked choke submission which his opponent avoided. Konrad resumed his control on the ground, landing intermittent punches while keeping Buentello down. The fight was stood up by the referee, and Buentello moved forward and landed punches to the face of a visibly exhausted Konrad. Konrad clinched with Buentello until the bout ended. Konrad won by unanimous decision and later credited fellow Team Death Clutch member Pat Barry for his striking improvement.
In its season 5, Bellator held a tournament to crown a contender for the heavyweight world title. Eric Prindle and Thiago Santos were the finalists who fought at Bellator Fighting Championships 59 (2011). An illegal groin kick from Santos while Prindle was on his back lead to a no-contest decision. Konrad awaited the winner of the scheduled Bellator Fighting Championships 61 (2012) rematch, however Prindle became ill days before the bout. The fight was rescheduled the next week to Bellator Fighting Championships 62 (2012). Another cancellation ensued when Santos exceeded heavyweight by several pounds. Bellator's CEO/Chairman Bjorn Rebney announced that Prindle was the heavyweight tournament winner by default, and would challenge Konrad for the championship. Prindle had previously trained at the Team Death Clutch Gym with Konrad. Eager to compete since he last fought Buentello, with two weeks notice Konrad accepted the title fight for Bellator Fighting Championships 65 (2012). Days before the bout Prindle suffered a hand injury leading which postponed the fight. Prindle and Konrad met in the main event at Bellator Fighting Championships 70 (2012). Recalling his exchange of punches with Buentello, Konrad stated that he would avoid that with the heavy-handed Prindle. In the bout he clinched with Prindle after avoiding some punches. He tripped the outside of Prindle's left leg to take him to the ground. From Prindle's half-guard, Konrad attacked Prindle's left arm by yanking it behind him into a kimura position. Prindle tapped out at one minute in the bout, giving Konrad his first successful title defense. In September 2012, Konrad vacated the Bellator Heavyweight World Title when he retired from MMA competition.
