Josh Koscheck returns to the Octagon for the first time since May to welcome Robbie Lawler back to the organization and division.Koscheck dropped a split decision to Johny Hendricks back at UFC on FOX: Diaz vs. Miller. The win would have elevated him b…
Josh Koscheck returns to the Octagon for the first time since May to welcome Robbie Lawler back to the organization and division.
Koscheck dropped a split decision to Johny Hendricks back at UFC on FOX: Diaz vs. Miller. The win would have elevated him back into title contention. Now he will try to get things going once again in 2013.
Lawler will be back inside the Octagon for the first time since UFC 50 back in 2004. He has dropped three of his last four bouts, but will hope a return to 170 pounds will give him a fresh start as the calendar turns.
This is how the battle between the two hard-throwing welterweights stacks up.
The historic UFC 157 fight card, headlined by the first ever women’s bout in the promotion, is beginning to take shape with Josh Koscheck set to face Robbie Lawler at the Feb. 23, 2013 event. The two welterweights are both coming off losses, and the fi…
The historic UFC 157 fight card, headlined by the first ever women’s bout in the promotion, is beginning to take shape with Josh Koscheck set to face Robbie Lawler at the Feb. 23, 2013 event.
The two welterweights are both coming off losses, and the fight is probably a disappointment for Kos, who had his eyes on the likes of Carlos Condit, BJ Penn and Rory MacDonald over the past year.
Instead, the UFC has lined up Lawler, according to MMA Junkie, a man who’s coming into the UFC following a chequered 3-5 record in Strikeforce.
Lawler’s had plenty of experience in the UFC. As a youngster he fought for the organisation between 2002 and 2004, and was eventually cut following back-to-back losses to Nick Diaz and Evan Tanner.
Before joining Strikeforce, Lawler managed to win titles in several lesser promotions, including EliteXC as a middleweight, and was notable for knocking out the dangerous striker Melvin Manhoef in 2010.
Still, this is not the fight Kos wanted. The 35-year-old has struggled to re-establish himself as a UFC welterweight contender following his championship fight loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 124 (his second career loss to the incumbent 170 pound kingpin), and, despite commanding wins over Matt Hughes and Mike Pierce, he suffered a setback after losing a close split decision to Johny Hendricks in May.
Hendricks is now widely considered the number-one contender. More recently, Kos was meant to face top welterweight Jake Ellenberger in September, but was sidelined due to an injury.
As things have shaken up in the UFC during his seven-month absence, Hendricks is now taking on Ellenberger in Montreal in March 2013, on the same card that will feature rising welterweight MacDonald against Condit and a title fight between GSP and Nick Diaz.
That has left Kos out in the cold somewhat, and he is now slated to be Lawlor’s first UFC opponent in almost nine years.
UFC 157 will be headlined by a women’s bantamweight title fight between champion Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche. The action will take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and will also feature light heavyweight Dan Henderson taking on Lyoto Machida for the 205-pound contender’s spot.
Though Lawler’s recent stint in Strikeforce suggested that the HIT Squad member’s best days are behind him — he won just three of eight fights for the promotion since 2009, and is coming off a decision loss to Lorenz Larkin — “Ruthless” hasn’t lost his savage knockout power, which helped him earn classic victories over Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland. (Fun fact: Since leaving the UFC after a middleweight loss to Evan Tanner at UFC 50, Lawler has earned all of his 11 victories by stoppage, with 10 coming via KO/TKO.)
Though Lawler’s recent stint in Strikeforce suggested that the HIT Squad member’s best days are behind him — he won just three of eight fights for the promotion since 2009, and is coming off a decision loss to Lorenz Larkin — “Ruthless” hasn’t lost his savage knockout power, which helped him earn classic victories over Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland. (Fun fact: Since leaving the UFC after a middleweight loss to Evan Tanner at UFC 50, Lawler has earned all of his 11 victories by stoppage, with 10 coming via KO/TKO.)
Josh Koscheck is coming off a loss as well, dropping a split-decision to Johny Hendricks in May, but he’ll surely be considered a strong favorite in this matchup, as he’s remained competitive with the top welterweights in the UFC — not to mention the fact that Lawler’s drop to his old weight class could wear him out before the fight. So is Robbie dead meat, or is Kos going night-night?
Former UFC welterweight title challenger Josh Koscheck has fought some of the best in the world, so it should come as no surprise that he called out Rory MacDonald moments after his win over BJ Penn on Saturday. Koscheck tweeted:
Maybe Roy s…
Former UFC welterweight title challenger Josh Koscheck has fought some of the best in the world, so it should come as no surprise that he called out Rory MacDonald moments after his win over BJ Penn on Saturday.
Koscheck tweeted:
Maybe Roy should fight me??? I Doubt the UFC would want to see him get his ass kicked.
At UFC on FOX 5, “Ares” battered Penn for 15 minutes, nearly stopping the UFC legend on several occasions in the second round.
Speaking to UFC color commentator Joe Rogan right after the bout, MacDonald made it clear that he wants a rematch with Carlos Condit next.
After taking a beating for two rounds, “The Natural Born Killer” rallied back in the third, stopping MacDonald with just seven seconds left in their “Fight of the Night” performance at UFC 115 in June 2010.
Since then, MacDonald has battled back to win four straight inside the Octagon.
Meanwhile, Koscheck is 2-2 in his past four, most recently losing a hotly-contested split decision to Johny Hendricks at UFC on FOX 3 in May.
In October, Koscheck said he wanted to fight former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz at UFC 157, scheduled for Feb 2, but the bout never came to fruition since Diaz is still serving a suspension issued by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Which fight makes more sense for MacDonald next: a rematch with Condit or with a new, yet still tough, opponent in the form of Koscheck?
Silence is not something we have become accustomed to when it comes to UFC welterweight contender Josh Koscheck. To not see a Koscheck tweet looking to step in for any injured fighter on any card on any notice is a little off-putting, but there i…
Silence is not something we have become accustomed to when it comes to UFC welterweight contender Josh Koscheck. To not see a Koscheck tweet looking to step in for any injured fighter on any card on any notice is a little off-putting, but there is a reason for that silence, a silence that Koscheck has begun to emerge from.
Koscheck had been booked to face Jake Ellenberger at UFC 151, but a back injury forced Koscheck to withdraw from the bout. In late October, Koscheck, perhaps itching to get back into the cage, took to Twitter to lament the fact that the UFC would not have a fight for him until 2013:
Doesn’t look like #UFC has a fight 4me until 2113. So ill just train & get better…
The attention-grabber there was the name Nick Diaz. A fighter who is currently serving out a one-year suspension for popping positive for marijuana metabolites following his February 4 loss to Carlos Condit.
It’s an intriguing matchup, as many feel that Diaz would have a great deal of trouble dealing with the wrestling attack that Koscheck, an NCAA champion, would bring with him into the Octagon.
Koscheck seems anxious to make the fight happen, telling UFC.com:
I feel it would be a great fight for the fans, with a great buildup, and Nick brings a lot to the table. He’s a good fighter. He’s tough. He has that tenacity where it’s ‘It’s me against the world and %$#$ you!’ I have the same attitude. I enjoy fighting people who have the same attitude because they are going to come in, never give up, and they are going to stand in front of you and fight. Nick Diaz will absolutely do that.
No matter what you think would happen once the fighters hit the Octagon, the buildup to this one would be one to remember. There’s no doubt that these two unfiltered and outspoken fighters would have plenty to say about each other in the months leading up to the fight. As Koscheck said, “It’s going to be bad guy versus bad guy. We haven’t seen too many of those matchups in the UFC.”
On paper, a fight between Koscheck and Diaz is an intriguing matchup, and it would draw eyeballs. The problems that face the promotion would come after the fight is over.
If Diaz defeats Koscheck, the simple solution would be to put him in line for a title fight, but what if St-Pierre faces Anderson Silva instead of No. 1 contender Johny Hendricks?
If Koscheck wins, you have the above problem coupled with the fact that he has already faced St-Pierre twice and lost to him twice, and it’s doubtful that the UFC would want to match him up against St-Pierre a third time.
My take? I say screw the future and look to the present. Book this fight, give it the full UFC Primetime buildup and throw it on free television as a FOX headliner. Conflict builds interest, and there would be more than enough conflict to go around in this one. Plus, you always have the bonus of wondering if Diaz will show up for pressers and media obligations.
Everyone wins. Time to get this fight on the schedule.
When you have doubts about yourself, the best way to overcome those doubts is to face them head on. Johny Hendricks had that problem in his fight in May with Josh Koscheck. That doubt is now gone, as he heads into UFC 154 in the co-main …
When you have doubts about yourself, the best way to overcome those doubts is to face them head on. Johny Hendricks had that problem in his fight in May with Josh Koscheck. That doubt is now gone, as he heads into UFC 154 in the co-main event against Martin Kampmann in a pivotal welterweight bout.
UFC 154 takes place this Saturday night from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the main card airs live on pay-per-view starting at 10 p.m. Eastern.
Questions were surrounding Hendricks when faced off with former welterweight title contender Josh Koscheck at UFC on Fox 3 in May. Was Hendricks’ knockout victory over Jon Fitch in twelve seconds at UFC 141 a fluke? Could he win another big fight? Hendricks put all of those questions to rest, as he defeated Koscheck by split decision. The Oklahoma native feels more relaxed for this fight than the Fox show.
“I feel more relaxed now than the Fox show because I knew that fight (with Koscheck) could be a number one contender’s fight and Josh was a tough opponent,” Hendricks told Bleacher Report. “I knew he was a good wrestler and had knockout power. That’s scary going into a fight like that. I knew it was going to be a battle. I never get nervous.
“With Josh though, it was a little bit different. I knew he had just changed gyms, knew he was going to train harder and wanting to win that much more. I knew that I had to prepare myself for the best Josh Koscheck. I was wondering if I was ready for that next step in my career. I needed to test myself with Jon Fitch. Now that I got to test myself against Josh Koscheck, I’m like, “Ok, now I’m ready for that next step.”
With the Koscheck fight done and having reflected on the fight, Hendricks felt Koscheck was a litmus test to prove he can hang at this level.
“Everything is a test in my book,” Hendricks states. “Everything is a challenge. Kampmann poses a lot of challenges, but I’m not as worried about him as I was against Josh. I didn’t know if I was ready. You believe you are doing everything right. Your doing this and your doing that and all of a sudden it comes to be that time, you sort of question that.
“You ask yourself, “Am I ready for that next level? “
“You get that victory and your level of confidence gets turned up a little more. You start to believe in yourself that much more and then you start training that much harder. You know that you are one step away from a title shot. I keep pushing myself and the next thing you know I am about to fight on the same card as Georges and Carlos.”
Martin Kampmann is on a three fight winning streak having defeated Rick Story, ThiagoAlves and Jake Ellenberger to get to this fight. Hendricks feels Kampmann got lucky along the way, but knows the Las Vegas native poses a lot of problems.
“He (Kampmann) was lucky to submit ThiagoAlves,” Hendricks states. “If the fight would have went to the judges’ scorecards, Alves wins the fight. Kampmann‘s a tough fighter. You have to put him out. You can’t make those mistakes against him. You saw with Thiago and saw that with Elllenberger. They had him hurt and they tried to do something else.
“With Kampmann, you have to make sure every punch counts. Don’t start flurrying, make every shot count.”
With all of that being said about Kampmann, the former four-time All-American collegiate wrestler from Oklahoma State feels Koscheck is a tougher fight than Kampmann.
“I think Koscheck was a heck of a lot tougher opponent,” Hendricks states. I know Kampmann‘s tough, don’t get me wrong. I’m training though like I’m fighting Josh again. I have trained with Kampmann, but never fought him. So I trained like I just got done with the Koscheck fight. That’s how I am training for this fight with Kampmann.
“Then after this fight, if I win, I’ll be training like I did for this fight for GSP or Condit.”
No decision has been made whether Hendricks/Kampmann will determine a number one contender to face the winner of the main event between Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit. There has been speculation that if St-Pierre wins, a superfight with middleweight champion Anderson Silva will take place. Hendricks doesn’t know what will happen if he’s victorious, but feels different things could play out for whoever wins the fight.
“There’s a couple different ways you can look at it,” Hendricks states. “What if the UFC tells me, “Johny you aren’t ready for GSP. We will give you a little time off to prepare for GSP as he fights Anderson Silva.”
“The UFC can also if Kampmann wins, “We don’t want to give Kampmann this title shot just yet as well.”
Hendricks feels the main event is going to come down to how healthy St-Pierre’s reconstructed knee holds up and Condit‘s takedown defense. “Bigg Rigg” doesn’t know who is going to win, and really doesn’t know who will emerge victorious. All he is focused on is winning against Kampmann and getting a shot at the belt.
“It’s tough decision right now because I don’t know how GSP really is feeling,” Hendricks states. “We don’t know how Carlos Condit‘s takedown defense is. It has probably gotten better, but it really depends on GSP‘s knee. If it has gotten better like I think it has, then he is going to take Condit down.
“If he is not going to be able to take him down, then I think Carlos Condit has the better standup.
“I don’t have a preference on who wins the main event. I just want a shot at the belt. Whoever has the belt, that’s who I want to face.”
Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand.
Silence is not something we have become accustomed to when it comes to UFC welterweight contender Josh 
When you have doubts about yourself, the best way to overcome those doubts is to face them head on. Johny Hendricks had that problem in his fight in May with Josh 