According to former No. 1 contender Josh Koscheck (15-5), he’s been asking for a fight with UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes for years, but the former champ has always dodged him.
Now Koscheck will finally get that fight, stepping in as a late replacement for an injured Diego Sanchez at UFC 135. The two will co-main event the Denver event which takes place on September 24 at the Pesi Center in Colorado.
In a Blog series at Sportsnet.ca, Koscheck discussed his last fight, a loss to UFC champ Georges St-Pierre last December, as well as his thoughts on finally facing Hughes.
Here’s an excerpt:
But then last week I got word Matt Hughes, who has avoided me for years, needed an opponent for UFC 135 in Denver on Sept. 24. I’ve called out Hughes for so long but he’s always avoided me. When he was on top and one of the top in the division, he used his position to avoid fighting me and all the AKA guys.
But when Diego Sanchez pulled out hurt with three weeks to go, I knew the UFC would have no choice but to try to talk Hughes into fighting me. Like I knew he would, he tried to suggest fighting Jon Fitch instead, knowing full well Fitch is still recovering from shoulder surgery.
I tweeted that I’d accepted the fight and was ready, just to put pressure on Hughes to quit bitching and take the fight. I wanted to make it so that if he did turn the fight down, all the fans would know that he bitched out.
He had nowhere else to go and I’ve finally got my fight with Matt Hughes.