To check out audio interviews with Josh Koscheck and more fighters on the UFC 86 card, click here.
LAS VEGAS - UFC welterweight contender Josh Koscheck used to be known solely for his wrestling skills, which are amazing.
Koscheck was a four-time NCAA Division I All-American and national champion.
He garnered a lot of attention for his run on the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Koscheck has compiled a 10-2 mark in MMA, including an 8-2 record in the UFC.
Koscheck rebounded from his unanimous decision loss to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 74 with a crushing second-round TKO over Dustin Hazlett at UFC 82.
Koscheck takes on veteran Chris Lytle at UFC 86 on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mandalay Bay Events Center on pay-per-view.
Koscheck took some time out to talk about his upcoming fight, his training partners at American Kickboxing Academy, the loss to St. Pierre and his desire to move down to 155 pounds to challenge B.J. Penn for the UFC lightweight strap.
Here is what Kos had to say:
On bouncing back from the unanimous decision loss to TKO Dustin Hazlett with a head kick in his last fight at UFC 82:
“One of the big things is probably my training. I train with Jon Fitch, Mike Swick and Josh Thomson. I mean, the list goes on, all the way down to Phil Baroni and Frankie Edgar. There are people coming in and out of our gym (American Kickboxing Academy). Jake Shields even, and he’s ranked sixth or seventh in the world. So I train with the No. 2 guy in the world, Mike Swick is probably in the top 10 and Jake Shields. There’s three good guys in the top 10 and myself am in there.
“I think one of the big reasons I’ve become a well-rounded and better mixed martial artist. I wouldn’t say I’m complete, yet. I still have a lot of work to do. But I think one of the big rebound reasons is because I have those training partners. And I think when you are in the gym with those type of guys every day, pushing yourselves, they are pushing you and you are pushing them for fights, you have no other option bu to get better. So I think that is one of the big reasons.
“I also in my free time took advice from Javier Mendez. I have a Muay Thai coach in Fresno that I didn’t work with. When I’m in Fresno, I usually just do Jiu-Jitsu and things like that. He said, ‘Why aren’t you working with this guy.’ He’s phenomenal and his name is Jasper (from Buhawe MMA). He’s really elevated my game to the next level and given me a lot of training and personal attention.”
On his training partners having certain strengths in certain areas:
“I think we feed off each other because in one area you have Jake Shields who is one of the best in the world in Jiu-Jitsu. So if we need ground work we got to Jake or Dave Camarillo, who is the Jiu-Jitsu instructor at AKA. He is a phenomenal black belt at Jiu-Jitsu and Judo. he understands the wrestling aspect of it to the Jiu-Jitsu. With Swick we have a standup guy. We can go, ‘Hey, we need a guy that can stand up and bang. Each round we can have a different guy coming in if we want and rotating for 25-30 minutes. It’s definitely a bonus having those guys.”
On the loss to Georges St. Pierre:
“I think the fight with Georges St. Pierre was a lack of experience. Being in the big show and fighting one of the best in the world, I think it was just a lack of experience, a lack of being a mixed martial artist and trying to understand. Maybe, I was in that transition like trying to understand what is mixed martial arts and how do you become a complete mixed martial artist. Because before I was just a wrestler or I was just throwing punches and shoot. So I wouldn’t call that mixed martial arts. I would call that setting up your punches to shoot.
“But now, I think, after that fight I understood how Geroges put everything together, you know, becoming a mixed martial artist. That’s one of the things I’m trying to focus on is putting my Jiu-Jitsu with my wrestling and my wrestling with my striking, so I become a more complete fighter.”
On what exactly do you learn from a loss:
“I don’t watch my fights. I lived it, so I know what I need to do. One of the big things that I didn’t focus on (against St. Pierre) was wrestling. I didn’t focus on my wrestling. I thought Georges was going to stand and he had a better game plan. He was the better fighter that night.”
On St. Pierre’s wrestling skills:
“I had prepared. In a straight wrestling match I would kick Georges St. Pierre’s (butt), if it was just straight wrestling, and I believe that. But mixed martial arts is different, because you have to be ready for his hands, you have to be ready for his feet, for his knees. So it’s a lot different. It’s way different. They are totally opposite. It’s only one dimension of the 10 that creates mixed martial arts. You can be successful in one area, but nowadays that is not enough. If there are five areas, you need to be really good at four out of the five. So that is one of things I have focused on, trying to become a complete mixed martial artist.”
On if he was distracted by all the hype leading up to the fight against St. Pierre:
“No, I don’t think I was distracted because I have been in big, big wrestling matches before. Wrestling for the national title was no different than fighting Georges St. Pierre. I just think the lack of experience at being in the big, big show and fighting somebody that is that big. I just think it was a lack of mixed martial arts experience.”
On getting over that mental hurdle of losing a big fight:
“I think it was my last fight I told my coaches, because they always made the game plan and they made the game plan for this one, and I told them I have the game plan. This is the game plan that I want. I’m going in there and if I get knocked out, I get knocked out. I’m going in there and we are finishing this fight. That was my game plan for this last fight. The important thing is to just focus in on winning, and winning is the ultimate goal. That is what I try to do.”
On how he approaches fights:
“I just train. I don’t ever watch fights. I’ve never even seen Chris Lytle fight to be honest with you. I’ve heard of him and I’ve seen him around. I’ve had a couple of run-ins with him at photo shoots and things like that. When I came to the UFC, he’s always been awesome respectful guy. I don’t have anything, this is probably the first time ever that I don’t have anything bad to say. Well, it’s the second because Dustin Hazlett was a good guy, too. I didn’t have anything bad to say about him. This is a good time for me. It’s a fight I can win and it’s a fight I’m going to win. It’s just a matter or how hard or how easy I’m going to make it.”
On his training partner Josh Thomson, who just won the Strikeforce lightweight title from Gilbert Melendez last weekend:
“I helped him out. One of the big things we worked with him on was his wrestling for the fight. Javier came up with a great game plan for him. he said we need to take him down and it worked well.”
On Thomson being a big underdog and does that make him be even more aware of Lytle:
“Absolutely, you always have to be aware of that, because if everybody expects you to win, then sometimes you can let your mind believe that you expect to win and it tricks you. You have to go out there and perform. That’s the bottom line whether you are the favorite or the underdog. If you are the favorite, you have to go out there and perform even harder and more because everybody is expecting you to win. For me, I put a lot of pressure on that. I say I need to win this fight because I’m expected to win this fight.”
On there being a void if he weren’t able to avenge that loss to St. Pierre in a title fight:
“Nah, it’s whoever. I just want to be the world champion whether it be 155, 170 or 185 or wherever. I believe that I have a lot of fights left in me and with the work ethic and the training partners I have and the coaches I think some day that dream is going to come true.”
On the possibility of him dropping to 155 pounds:
“You never know. I mean, if people want to see me fight B.J. Penn at 155 for the title, because there is really nobody there for him to fight … I’m friends with B.J. I love him to death. When I was a wrestler in college, B.J. contacted me and I went and trained with him for Matt Hughes. I trained with him several times. I know B.J. very well, but business is business. We’re friends, but I think at the end of the day, it’s about making money together. If the fans want to see it, I’d suck it up and live that life to do whatever I have to do to make 155.”
On if UFC president Dana White knows about his desire to fight Penn:
“Nah, I don’t think anybody knows that. If it was for a title, I would do it. I would go down and do it, just one time. It is what it is. I think it’s a fight fans would love to see. B.J. Penn is a great champion and I’m improving as a mixed martial artist. We’ve trained together. We’re friends. We trained together for two good months. A month for the huge fight and a month for the other one. You never know.”
On why so many friends and training partners fight each other in MMA:
“In mixed martial arts, it’s all about respect. It’s all about your character. It’s belief. There is a lot that goes into being a mixed martial artist. It’s not just stepping into the cage and fighting. There is a lot behind it. If you look at the term mixed martial arts, back in the day you had Jet Li and all those guys and Bruce Lee and they carry themselves in a different way.
“I think that’s where it comes into a factor where you have to fight somebody that you are friends with or whether they are a training partner or an acquaintance. You just have that mutual respect. Most of the time the fights are like that. Very rarely do you get your Koscheck-Diego (Sanchez) feud. It seems to be coming more and more in the sport because it is getting more popular and it’s getting more mainstream.”
