UFC 143 opened up some very intriguing matchup possibilities in numerous weight classes. But perhaps none was more surprising or more interesting than the the one that opened up when Josh Koscheck announced that he would be splitting from the American Kickboxing Academy.
As long-time friends and training partners, Koscheck and Jon Fitch have utilized very similar techniques in many of their fights on their way to a combined UFC record that could make just about any other teammate duo look pathetic. It hasn’t always been flashy, and it has made some fans pretty angry to watch; but Koscheck and Jon Fitch just get the job done.
So, now that Koscheck and Fitch will no longer be training with one another, fans may finally be treated to the answer of one of MMA’s longest-running questions: “Who’s better—Josh Koscheck or Jon Fitch?”
Sure, a matchup between Koscheck and Diaz seemed to be the talk of the town following the fight, but that could happen down the road and still be just as intriguing. There’s no love or hate there; there’s no story.
But Koscheck versus Fitch has been built up in the minds of MMA fans for years!
Even UFC President Dana White has spoken out in the past about how he wants to see these guys go at it. He even wanted them to fight when they were teammates!
Now that the teammate card is gone from the deck, this fight makes all the sense in the world for numerous reasons.
With Koscheck coming off of back-to-back wins and Fitch coming off of a surprising loss to Johny Hendricks, these two are actually fairly close to one another in the rankings. Moreover, both of them needs a win against a top opponent to step up in the rankings given the tremendous amount of elite-level competitors who are currently vying for a title shot.
Fitch and Koscheck have lost a combined three fights to Georges St-Pierre. Fighting one another would be a show of good faith to the UFC, proving that they are willing to do anything that it takes to get another shot at the title.
The stylistic matchup between these two is very interesting, but even more intriguing would be seeing which one of these fighters has learned the weaknesses of the other more convincingly in training.
It’s not like these guys can’t go back to being friends immediately after the fight, but it’s time to give the fans what they’ve been hoping to see for years. Hopefully we’ll see Joe Silva and Dana White come together to make this thing happen sometime in 2012.
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