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  • Changing Face, Koschek Ready For UFC 86

    July 2, 2008

    Changing Face, Koschek Ready For UFC 86

    Growing up is hard to do. It’s even harder when you’re growing up in front of millions of people on television. But that’s exactly what Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight Josh Koscheck did as a member of the cast for the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show.

    Coming onto the show, Koscheck only had a handful of fights and an impressive resume that included an NCAA championship in wrestling at Edinboro University in 2001. What he learned on the show was a first hand lesson in the world of MMA and how reality shows can soon become a reality after the filming is finished.

    During the show’s filming, Koscheck became everyone’s favorite bad guy, taunting and prodding at housemate Chris Leben, until the two finally fought on the show. When he won the fight, Koscheck’s intensity only seemed to grow while his protagonists kept at him before and after the season ended.

    Now entering his 13th professional fight, facing veteran Chris Lytle at UFC 86 on Saturday night, Koscheck understands that how the fans perceive him could make or break his career as a successful mixed martial artist.

    “TV can give you a false sense of who a person is,” Koscheck stated. “So for me it’s all about turning fans around and really showing these fans who I really am as a person. That’s one of the big things I’m trying to do.”

    During his downtime away from fighting, he focuses on his clothing brand, Mar Clothing, which will launch a whole new line this August. It was his move into business that made him realize that The Ultimate Fighter may have launched his career, but he didn’t walk away as the fan favorite from the show.

    “One of the things I’ve seen from being a businessman is image. People, if they hate me, they’re never going to buy my stuff, so one of the things I’m trying to do as a mixed martial artist is I’m trying to change my image,” said Koscheck. “I want to be liked by everybody.

    “At the end of the day, I’m a businessman and I want to provide for my family, provide for myself and build something that I believe in. The more opportunity I have to show people who I really am, and people out there get to know me as a person, I think they will definitely see a different side to me.”

    Source: MMA Weekly

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