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July 13, 2010
Josh Koscheck - TUF 12: Meet the Coaches
When UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre enters the Octagon against #1 contender and #1 UFC villain Josh Koscheck at the conclusion of Season 12 of "The Ultimate Fighter," be prepared for a technical chess match when the two find their rhythm and unleash their game plans.
GSP already beat Koscheck in a non-title fight with superior wrestling, however this time around Koscheck has more tools to work with than when the two first met at UFC 74 in August 2007. Back then, according to GSP, the champ had the element of surprise on his rival.
"He didn't know how my wrestling was," GSP said at a recent press conference. "This time I don't have this element of surprise, but I'm going to have to use another element of surprise you guys might find out in the fight."
Whatever GSP has in store, Koscheck says he's ready for the biggest fight of his career.
"I plan on making Georges stand toe-to-toe with me," Koscheck said. "This isn't going to be a wrestling match. I'm going to force him to stand-up with me because I believe he doesn't have knockout power," Kos said.
No matter how confident Koscheck is however, St. Pierre's already impressive skills inside the cage just keep getting better and better, and mentally, GSP has been stronger than ever after a surprise upset by Matt Serra in 2007. Since then, GSP has been on a tear, defeating the world's best welterweights in dominating fashion.
Koscheck, for his part, has not been as impressive. He eked out a "safe" win against Paul Daley in May and dropped two fights to Paulo Thiago and Thiago Alves along the way.
He has, however, improved his acting skills, with Oscar-worthy performances: wincing and shaking his head in agonizing pain after a glancing illegal knee from Daley, and another after he was poked in the eye by Anthony Johnson back at UFC 106.
The theatrics have not endeared Koscheck to the fans, who have made him the man they love to hate.
"I'm used to the boos," Koscheck said.
One thing both fighters do have in common is that they are both from excellent camps. GSP gets his strategy from Greg Jackson and trains primarily with Firas Zahabi at Tri-Star Gym in Montreal. Zahabi, a Muay Thai specialist, has a facility that caters to mixed martial arts. Add Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Renzo Gracie's guru John Danaher, Muay Thai champion and master gamer Phil Nurse, and you start to see why GSP's game keeps improving. Training partners include David Loiseau, Nate Marquardt, and Jon Jones.
Koscheck trains at the highly acclaimed American Kickboxing Academy, home to such fighters as Cung Le and Cain Velasquez. His trainers are Javier Mendez and Dave Camarillo, and his partners include Olympic wrestling great Daniel Cormier.
St. Pierre says the trash talking the two will inevitably do during the next season of "The Ultimate Fighter," where the two will coach 28 lightweights on opposing teams, will fuel even more of his desire to retain his belt.
As for Koscheck, well, it will be just business as usual.
"The Ultimate Fighter" Season 12 premieres in September.
Season 12 Coaches:
Georges St-Pierre
John Danaher (assistant coach)
Phil Nurse (assistant coach)
Jean-Charles Skarbowsky (assistant coach)
Shawn Williams (assistant coach)
Firas Zahabi (assistant coach)
Josh Koscheck
Dave Camarillo (assistant coach)
Daniel Cormier (assistant coach)
"Crazy" Bob Cook (assistant coach)
Teddy Lucio (assistant coach)
Javier Mendez (assistant coach)
Photo Source: UFC
Source: The Ultimate Fighter
