Tag: Josh Koscheck

UFC 151: Jake Ellenberger and Josh Koscheck to Meet in Co-Main Event

The UFC’s welterweight division has picked up a fight between two top ten combatants, as the UFC has announced that Jake Ellenberger and Josh Koscheck will face each other in the co-main event of UFC 151. The fight, which will take place on Septe…

The UFC’s welterweight division has picked up a fight between two top ten combatants, as the UFC has announced that Jake Ellenberger and Josh Koscheck will face each other in the co-main event of UFC 151.

The fight, which will take place on September 1 in Las Vegas, puts most of the top ranked welterweight fighters in play over the next few months.

Also tentatively scheduled to compete before the end of the year are Georges St-Pierre, Carlos Condit, Martin Kampmann and Johny Hendricks. St-Pierre and Condit will face off to determine who is the one true owner of the UFC welterweight crown, while Kampmann and Hendricks will compete to thin the herd at the top of the division. Those two fights are penciled in for UFC 154, which is scheduled for November 17 in Montreal, Quebec.

Also in the welterweight mix, Rory MacDonald will face BJ Penn at UFC 152 in September.

Ellenberger and Koscheck are both coming off losses in their last bouts.

Ellenberger (27-6) was on a six-fight UFC winning streak and hearing whispers about a possible title shot when he ran into Martin Kampmann during the TUF 15 final fight card. Kampmann took that fight by second round knockout. Fighters that Ellenberger defeated during his winning streak included Diego Sanchez and Jake Shields.

As for Koscheck (17-6), he saw a two-fight winning streak come to an end on the UFC on FOX 3 card when Johny Hendricks took a split decision victory over the always-game Koscheck. Before the loss to Hendricks, Koscheck had defeated Matt Hughes and Mike Pierce.

UFC 151 will be headlined by a light heavyweight title bout as champion Jon Jones puts his belt on the line against former Pride and Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson.

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MMA: 10 of the Dirtiest Strikes in History

Whenever strikes are flying with bad intentions, the chance of a foul is always there. Sometimes like a confused animal that stumbles into the scene by accident, other times like a snarling dog let loose by the offender. For the former, it’s a re…

Whenever strikes are flying with bad intentions, the chance of a foul is always there. Sometimes like a confused animal that stumbles into the scene by accident, other times like a snarling dog let loose by the offender.

For the former, it’s a regrettable moment in their career that is usually never repeated again.  

For the latter, it’s the dark humor of the situation itself they cannot resist. Their opponent is putting their trust in him to obey the rules, and like Lucy yanking the ball away from Charley Brown as he runs to kick, they too choose to indulge their whims, simply because they can.

That’s not to say a fighter found guilty of landing a dirty strike is a dirty fighter. It is simply an acknowledgement of those things within the rules and those things deemed illegal.

The sport has seen its fair share of both unintentional fouls and those done with clear malice, but whatever the motivation, the result is the same: a dirty strike.

Here is a list of 10 of the dirtiest strikes in MMA history, where the strike itself is more often than not the main point of contention.

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UFC Is Trying to Sucker B.J. Penn out of Retirement by Using Josh Koscheck

Oh man, I love it when I have a fun story to kick off a day.The UFC—and Dana White in particular—really wants B.J. Penn to come back from his short-lived retirement and fight again.Penn is a huge fan favorite for the UFC, and White has done…

Oh man, I love it when I have a fun story to kick off a day.

The UFC—and Dana White in particular—really wants B.J. Penn to come back from his short-lived retirement and fight again.

Penn is a huge fan favorite for the UFC, and White has done everything he can do to goad Penn off the beach, short of sending a SWAT team into Hawaii to make a quick capture. He’s even repeatedly told the world that Penn is coming back, only to find out that Penn said no such thing at all.

Earlier this month, we saw Dana’s latest tactic: using other fighters to anger Penn and sucker him into a fight:

That attempt worked out just about as well as the rest of them, with Penn shooting Koscheck down in very public fashion.

@joshkoscheck I know it costs a lot of money to live that lavish lifestyle, big house, fast cars & you need big fights but sorry I’m not coming back anytime soon!

Oh well. You can’t say Koscheck didn’t give it the old college try. A fight between the most-hated and one of the most-loved welterweights in the world would have been the perfect kind of main event for a UFC on FOX show, or perhaps even a B-level pay-per-view. But it wasn’t to be.

Last night on Spike TV’s MMA Uncensored Live, Koscheck revealed the idea behind his public call-out of Penn:

Me and B.J. have a good relationship. It’s business, and, you know what? I like to have big fights. I think that B.J. is the type of fighter that would be a big fight for me. The UFC asked to try and stir up something. You know, I do my job well, and I went on to my Twitter account, and just kinda said, ‘Hey, B.J. Let’s do this fight.

I realize Penn is still retired and that this seems like a dead issue, but I’d still love to see this fight. Neither guy will be challenging for a title any time soon—or at least as long as Georges St-Pierre is the welterweight champion—so pairing them up with one another seems like perfect matchmaking to me.

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Why BJ Penn Should Accept the Fight With Josh Koscheck

Josh Koscheck would be the perfect opponent for BJ Penn to face in his return to the octagon.Koscheck revealed on his Twitter account that he had been offered to face the Hawaiian. Unfortunately, Penn turned it down and will continue to focus on his li…

Josh Koscheck would be the perfect opponent for BJ Penn to face in his return to the octagon.

Koscheck revealed on his Twitter account that he had been offered to face the Hawaiian. Unfortunately, Penn turned it down and will continue to focus on his life outside of the UFC, according to the Cagewriter blog.

In mixed martial arts, styles make fights and this would of been one of the more enjoyable matchups to look forward to.

First of all, Koscheck’s trash talk to help sell the fight would certainly motivate Penn to perform at his best, and the former UFC lightweight champion is most dangerous when he is motivated. It’s evident from some of his past bouts that his most dominant victories were fueled by trash-talk coming from opponents like Kenny Florian, Sean Sherk and Matt Hughes.

Stylistically, this bout would favour Penn in nearly all aspects of the fight.

While Koscheck does possess one of the best wrestling pedigrees at 170 pounds, Penn is one of the most flexible and durable fighters, and he has shown an excellent ability to stay on his feet against some of the sport’s elite wrestlers, including Sherk and Georges St-Pierre. 

Penn also displays arguably the best boxing in MMA and is very good at avoiding his opponents’ attack with well-timed head movement, especially when he utilizes his jab. Koscheck’s stand-up has progressed recently, but he tends to get sloppy when he attempts to land a cross or a overhand right, leaving his guard wide open.

Although this bout appears to be anything but finalized, there is still time for Penn to reconsider and try to make a comeback. It’s understandable if he wants to reevaluate his options momentarily, however, Penn is still relatively young at just 31 years old and would likely be only one or two wins away from a title shot. 

Penn should accept a fight against Koscheck. It would help him add another quality opponent to his resume, and it would affirm his stance in the welterweight division.

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BJ Penn Turns Down Fight with Josh Koscheck, "Not Coming Back Anytime Soon"

UFC veteran Josh Koscheck made big waves in the world of MMA when he announced that he had been offered, and accepted, a fight with the legendary BJ “The Prodigy” Penn.”#UFC just offered me to fight BJ Penn…I said YES!!!!! Just waiting on h…

UFC veteran Josh Koscheck made big waves in the world of MMA when he announced that he had been offered, and accepted, a fight with the legendary BJ “The Prodigy” Penn.

“#UFC just offered me to fight BJ Penn…I said YES!!!!! Just waiting on him!!!!!! Let’s scrap bra?” tweeted Koscheck.

Unfortunately, and much to the chagrin of MMA fans everywhere, The Prodigy has turned down the fight and it’s unlikely we’ll see him back in the cage anytime in the near future.

“@joshkoscheck I know it costs a lot of money to live that lavish lifestyle, big house, fast cars & you need big fights but sorry I’m not coming back anytime soon!” tweeted Penn.

Penn retired after losing a No.1 contender’s match with Nick Diaz at UFC 137. It was a tough fight for Penn, who had trouble dealing with the reach of his larger opponent. By the fight’s end, his face was a battered mess.

“I’ve got a daughter. I’ve got another on the way. I don’t want to go home looking like this again. I’m done”, said Penn, during his post fight interview at UFC 137.

While fans would have been excited to see Penn accept the fight with Koscheck, this story is not without some good news. Penn initially said that he was retiring from MMA, but his recent comments suggest that he will be back, just not “anytime soon”.

 

 Andrew Barr is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a stand-up comedian. Check him out on Twitter @AndrewBarr8.

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B.J. Penn vs. Josh Koscheck Would Be an Awesome UFC on FOX Main Event

I don’t know if the following is true. You never really know if Josh Koscheck is telling the truth or playing some kind of angle in order to secure a big fight.He’s a brilliant businessman, and that’s what brilliant businessmen do: They set up ways to …

I don’t know if the following is true. You never really know if Josh Koscheck is telling the truth or playing some kind of angle in order to secure a big fight.

He’s a brilliant businessman, and that’s what brilliant businessmen do: They set up ways to add more cheese to their personal checking account.

Regardless, here’s what Koscheck said on Twitter late last night: 

As of this writing, there’s been no response from Penn’s camp. We don’t even know if Koscheck is telling the truth. 

But I can’t help but imagine that Penn vs. Koscheck would be a pitch-perfect main event for the next UFC on FOX show in August. That’s the card currently headlined by Brian Stann vs. Hector Lombard, but the ratings disaster of the Jim Miller/Nathan Diaz-headlined FOX show earlier this month might just have the UFC hedging their bets and attempting to put together a bigger main event.

It makes perfect sense from every conceivable angle. Both fighters are coming off losses to notable contenders. Both guys are huge names with the dependable hardcore fanbase, but more importantly they’re names that the casual fan will know.

Sure, they’re coming off losses in their last fight, but that doesn’t really matter when it comes to network television. On FOX, you’re trying to broaden the scope of your typical audience by giving them names they recognize in a main event and then building to that main event with consistent advertising in the weeks leading to the fight. 

Neither Penn nor Koscheck may ever sniff a title shot again. But I’m not sure they care, to be honest, and it doesn’t really matter where they stand in the rankings.

The audience the UFC needs to attract does not care about rankings or losses or title shots—they only care when they’re given a reason to care, when they see that someone they’ve heard of is fighting. 

That’s what Penn and Koscheck offer. It’s the perfect fight for FOX, and I hope it happens.

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