"The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck" begins on September 15th on Spike.
Check out this sneak peek of the first episode.
Josh Koscheck's Homecoming
Josh Koscheck has come full circle. After entering the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" as a contestant, the #1 contender for the welterweight championship returns September 15 on Spike as a coach. He'll pilot a team of lightweights in search of Octagon glory before taking on rival coach and champion Georges St-Pierre.
Koscheck is excited about the prospect.
"It's a great opportunity to be back. What this show does is basically promote our sport and promote the fact that I get to kick Georges St-Pierre's ass on December 11," Koscheck told UltimateFighter.com. "I know that there are probably a lot of (jerks) out there that don't think I can whip him."
Koscheck is confident in his ability and his chances, but not enthralled with how he can be portrayed, or how fans react to that. "There's probably 18,000 of them when I fight him December 11 in Montreal that I'm going to prove wrong. And I'm sure that you're probably one of them. You probably think that Georges can kick my ass - all the media probably does."
He'll be entering the lion's den when he goes for the title, fighting GSP in his hometown of Montreal. Koscheck's last fight was also held there, when he secured the title shot by grinding out Paul Daley. His comments after that fight didn't endear himself to the Quebec faithful, and Koscheck is not anticipating a warm reception.
"I'm going to have a real surprise for them. I can't wait to go to Montreal to fight. Whether it's in Montreal, whether it's in Pittsburgh, whether it's in Vegas, it doesn't matter. I still gotta go out there and perform and I gotta win. I plan on shocking 22,000 people again and pissing them all off by knocking Georges St-Pierre out. I got a lot to prove, and I can't wait ‘til December 11 to beat the s--t out of him."
While we'll have to wait to watch him make good on his promise, we have only a few days left until Koscheck's coaching tenure on The Ultimate Fighter kicks off. Obviously, the sport of mixed martial arts has changed greatly since Koscheck originally put on his Team Liddell jersey.
"Back when I was on The Ultimate Fighter five years ago you could be a one dimensional fighter such as a wrestler, a boxer or a jiu jitsu fighter", Koscheck said. "And now you have to be a complete fighter. The fortunate thing about me and my career is that I've been able to grow up in front of people's eyes as a fighter. Being on The Ultimate Fighter, I was just a wrestler."
Koscheck was able to use his wrestling to success against Chris Leben in his first fight on TUF. It was enough to pick up a win, if not quash a feud within the house. Koscheck made the most of his experience and used what he learned to help round out his game.
"Now I can strike, I can kick; I've had submission victories and knockout victories by kick and punches."
