GSP’s Manager: Animosity with Koscheck Wasn’t Fake

Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck: Stephen Fernandez / Splash News

Georges St. Pierre embraced Josh Koscheck after beating him at UFC 124 and seemed to dismiss Koscheck’s trash talk as hype for their fight. However, Shari Spencer, GSP’s manager, recently made it clear that the animosity was real.

“I don’t think it was pretend, but I do think it’s behind them, if that makes sense,” Spencer said on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show. “I think there’s a difference when the hype is simply just for the sake of hype and when it is maybe exaggerated a bit for the sake of hype but yet the animosity is real. It’s behind them after the fight. They move on; they’re professionals. I don’t necessarily agree that it’s all pretend, and so I think that keeps some legitimacy going. I think there was true animosity between the two of them. There’s no doubt about that in my mind.”

St. Pierre dominated the fight, winning a unanimous decision and beating Koscheck for the second time. He has now won eight straight since his April 2007 upset loss to Matt Serra, a defeat that led some to question St. Pierre’s mental fortitude. Those days seem long gone.

“I don’t know that the mental aspect of it was as large as it was played out to be,” Spencer said. “Dana made the comment, I think one time, ‘Which Georges St. Pierre is going to show up?’ Or something along those lines. I think it was overplayed, but I definitely think that as time goes on, it becomes more and more difficult to get inside Georges’ head.”

Despite his dominance since the Serra loss, St. Pierre still has some critics. Detractors point to the four times he’s gone the distance in his last five bouts, suggesting he fights conservatively to avoid another loss. The lack of finishes could be explained by the stellar competition he’s fought, though. Spencer, for one, does not sound worried about the impact of another loss on GSP’s career.

“From a marketing perspective, I think there are many fighters who are extremely marketable but that don’t have the record that Georges’ does and that losses don’t always affect your marketability,” she said. “He’s also said that when he lost to Matt Hughes, he ended up getting many more fans than when he was winning. Randy Couture has a few losses on his record, and he’s one of the best-loved fighters of all time. … I don’t think our corporate sponsors are expecting a win or they’re going to pull out. We don’t feel that weight at all. Not at all.”

Spencer has helped St. Pierre become one of the few mixed martial artists to cross over into the mainstream with sponsors such as Gatorade and Under Armour. She credits his ability to separate himself from conventional views on fighters.

“I think he’s less of a typical stereotype of what the mainstream thinks of MMA and at one point what I thought of MMA -- that it’s mainly testosterone-laden, tatted up, pierced guys,” Spencer said. “That’s what most people still think. Slowly but surely we’re chipping away at that perception. Here you’ve got a good-looking, clean-cut guy, wears a suit at the press conference, doesn’t trash talk. He’s much more mainstream America than the sport is. I think that’s why he has that ability.”

In addition to sponsorship money, St. Pierre also has his own branded merchandise, which is yet another stream of income. Of course he’s still a fighter first and will be receiving a percentage of the pay-per-view revenue UFC 124 generated.

“I haven’t heard any estimates yet on the pay-per-views. I would think they did pretty well given the prefight hype,” Spencer said. “I think I owe Josh Koscheck a really big Christmas present because he did a great job of making everybody want to tune in and see the fight.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 28:24) with Spencer.

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Koscheck, Stevenson Receive 60-Day Medical Suspensions

All 22 fighters who participated in UFC 124 “St. Pierre vs. Koscheck” have been issued medical suspensions by the Quebec Athletic Commission.

The show, which took place Dec. 11 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, was headlined by a one-sided main event between welterweight king Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck (Pictured). The savvy champion used a jackhammer-like jab to break Koscheck’s orbital bone and close his right eye en route to an easy five-round decision. Koscheck received a 60-day suspension.

Also on the shelf for two months will be main card competitor Joe Stevenson, who fell victim to a beautiful Mac Danzig counter hook in the first round of their lightweight tilt.

Dan Miller, Joe Doerksen and Sean Pierson were all suspended for 45 days following hard-fought contests. The remainder of the event’s combatants received suspensions not longer than 30 days.

UFC 124 Medical Suspensions:

• 60 Days: Josh Koscheck, Joe Stevenson

• 45 Days: Dan Miller, Joe Doerksen, Sean Pierson

• 30 Days: Sean McCorkle, John Howard, Rafael Natal, Matt Riddle, T.J. Grant, Pat Audinwood

• 28 Days: Georges St. Pierre

• 21 Days: Thiago Alves, Jesse Bongfeldt

• 14 Days: Ricardo Almeida, John Makdessi

• 7 Days: Stefan Struve, Jim Miller, Charles Oliveira, Mac Danzig, Dustin Hazelett, Mark Bocek

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Pros Pick: St. Pierre vs. Koscheck 2

Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck: Stephen Fernandez / Splash News

Regardless of what went down during filming of Season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” the raucous crowd that will fill the Bell Centre in Montreal for UFC 124 on Saturday was destined to have treated Josh Koscheck like an enforcer who plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

That reception can be traced primarily to the fact that Koscheck will be squaring off against the city’s native son, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, in the main event. However, Koscheck only enhanced his place among the sport’s all-time heels during his time coaching opposite St. Pierre on the Spike TV reality series. Now, the two meet again inside the Octagon, with Koscheck looking to avenge a 2007 decision defeat to the champion.

Sherdog.com recently caught up with dozens of professional trainers and fighters to gauge their opinions on the rematch between St. Pierre and Koscheck:

I think that GSP will face a very tough opponent, but I think he wins the decision.

“Fraggle Rock” will be the new welterweight champion of the UFC. Not sure how “Kos” is going to pull the upset off, but this is going to be American Kickboxing Academy’s moment to shine.

I gotta go with GSP on this one; Kos is just so easy to hate. Plus, GSP is the best fighter on all aspects. Kos has said, ‘Oh, I’m a different fighter, but he’s the same.” He will get beat in a five-round decision win for the poster boy, GSP.

GSP is just the better all-around fighter and will win if Josh doesn’t get lucky.

I think GSP wins by submission in the third round.

GSP all the way. Koscheck has been doing everything he can to get under GSP’s skin, and I think he is going to pay dearly. In front of his Canadian fans, I see GSP laying Koscheck out. Should be a great fight, though. Koscheck has a ton of trash [talk] to back up, but I don’t think he will be able to do it. This fight won’t be going to the judges. GSP still the champ.

Koscheck by overhand right TKO in round one. I don’t believe GSP will want to stand up with Josh, and I think Koscheck will be prepared for the wrestling. New welterweight champion. Sorry Canada. You still have the best drink in the world (Caesar) but no longer the UFC 170-pound champion. My girlfriend is Canadian, and I’m probably gonna get in trouble for this prediction (laughs).

GSP wins this by ground-and-pound or decision. I think his timing for takedowns will be too good, and he will get on top and ride Kos out.

I think GSP wins a decision.

I’m going with GSP all the way. Georges just mixes everything so well. He is way more technical, athletic and smarter than Koscheck by far. Georges has so many more ways he can win, and Koscheck will be looking for a right hand and trying to make this fight more of a brawl. I think GSP will win by submission this time around, and if I had to pick a round, I would say round four.

This is a rematch worth seeing. Koscheck has worked his way back up the ladder to earn a rematch after losing to GSP in a three-round decision loss. Since then, both fighters have improved immensely. Both have also been caught by a big punch and put out of a fight because of it: GSP vs. [Matt] Serra and Kos vs. [Paulo] Thiago. Both fighters have a similar skill set, with striking and wrestling, though GSP has better grappling. Kos has finishing power in his stand-up, but GSP has better technique and control of range. Kos is technically the better wrestler on paper, but GSP applies it better in MMA. Kos has made this rematch even more interesting with his trash talking during “The Ultimate Fighter.” Even though he may not have made himself more fans, he’s definitely bringing more viewers to watch him lose. That is good business sense. Sadly, that’s not going to be enough. Kos also has experience on his side, having fought GSP already and another teammate who has fought GSP. Problem is both guys lost when they faced GSP, so even that insight will be skewed. Kos is always dangerous with his wrestling, and if he looks to work his takedowns, he has the ability to get on top of fighters and win a decision with control. He also has good power and, if he lands a clean shot, has the ability to end the fight. He has two options with his skill set: keep it standing and look for the big KO, or take it down and win a decision. If he tries the first strategy, he will be taken down each and every round. I think being a five-rounder this will be even harder for Kos to go the decision way. I give GSP the edge in skills and ability to apply it in MMA. I think GSP will pressure Kos from the start. He will put Kos on his back every round and work his ground-and-pound. GSP always works to pass guard and will continue that trend. I think the change with this fight is that he will work his ground-and-pound more, rather than going for a sub, unless it’s in the later rounds or he hurts Kos first. I think he will punish Kos with ground-and-pound to either win a decision or possibly pull off a TKO or sub in the later rounds.

I think GSP wins the decision, exchanging a few blows standing and dominating the ground.

Interesting fight. I think it gets more interesting with both Koscheck and his main training partner having already fought GSP. That’s a lot of firsthand knowledge into how to properly fight Georges. Even with that, I think GSP will win again. I think it will be a good fight, but GSP just knows how to throw people off, and his takedown seems unstoppable. I’m going GSP by decision.

I’ve hated Koscheck for a long time, and watching “The Ultimate Fighter” made me hate him way more. He insults GSP and all the French Quebecers. He is a dick. I can’t wait until Saturday, when Georges puts his hands on him. Georges by TKO, round three, and bye-bye Mr. “Ronald McDonald” Koscheck.

I think GSP wins by submission in the third round.

I think this is a great matchup, and if Koscheck backs up all the talk, then it should be a good battle. But for saying he is the best wrestler in MMA, he will have to step it up with his takedown defense. This is not wrestling; it is fighting, and everything changes when strikes are involved. I think he improves at a good rate but will have to mix it up with his own takedowns to keep GSP guessing. Otherwise, it will just be the same as the first fight.

GSP is too strong in every aspect of the MMA game. Kos is in for a very bad five-round beating, or if he’s lucky, he’ll get KO’d in the third. GSP has no competition in the welterweight division.

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GSP May Hold Mental Edge Over Koscheck

Georges St. Pierre (top): Dave Mandel | Sherdog.com

For all his efforts at hackneyed trash talk during the twelfth season of “TUF,” Josh Koscheck still has to beat Georges St. Pierre in the one place it counts next Saturday: the Octagon.

When one fighter tries to trash talk after losing handily in a bout, the inability to get under the winner’s skin can be frustrating. For Ken Shamrock, the reality show build-up to his rematch with Tito Ortiz only blew up in his face, as Ortiz won both the war of words and the fight itself (as well as a third, equally one-sided encounter). To St. Pierre’s credit, he didn’t volley trash talk with his challenger, instead preferring to largely ignore and brush off Koscheck’s attempts to rattle him. It was pretty much a blueprint as to how a champion should carry himself against a challenger who’s seeking to rile him up.

The pair was interviewed on Saturday’s telecast as part of the final build-up toward their showdown in the main event of UFC 124, which will be held in St. Pierre’s backyard, Montreal, on Dec. 11.

“I’ve been pretty much looking at this like another fight,” Koscheck said. “When I fought Georges St. Pierre, I wasn’t very experienced.” Koscheck added that there are “a lot of question marks” surrounding the fight, and that “nobody knows which Georges St. Pierre will show up.”

Actually, that’s a question which nobody I know of has considered regarding St. Pierre lately. The French Canadian’s dominant performances only leave lingering questions of why he hasn’t finished opponents he’s bullied. The answer: Because he knows it’s better to win than give the other guy a chance to pull something out of a hat -- and because Dan Hardy is triple-jointed.

Relaxed and composed while contemplating the task at hand, St. Pierre could only have looked more confident if he had been holding a cat on his lap and wearing a smoking jacket.

“Josh says the pressure is on me, but it’s not true,” St. Pierre said. “When I beat him again Saturday, we’re not going to fight again.”

Koscheck took the opportunity to further play up his heel persona.

“I love Montreal. Are you kidding me? Enemy territory? They love me up there. Everybody loves Kos,” he said, smiling. “Wherever the fight is, it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve got to perform and put on a show. If there’s 20,000 people yelling ‘G-S-P,’ it doesn’t matter.”

Koscheck is right -- it doesn’t matter. But, if this season’s “TUF” told us anything, it’s that St. Pierre has clearly been unfazed by Koscheck’s war of words.

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The Blueprint - GSP vs. Koscheck II

Who will win Saturday night's rematch between Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck? Michael DiSanto breaks it down... On Saturday night, the greatest welterweight on the planet defends his title against the clear number one contender.  

Reigning champion and pound-for-pound great Georges St-Pierre hopes he experiences déjà vu when the action gets underway.  Just over three years ago, he summarily defeated Josh Koscheck in an entertaining, though clear-cut, three round battle that helped erase the putrid taste of defeat that lingered from a shocking technical knockout loss to Matt Serra half a year earlier.  The outcome unquestionably gives GSP a tremendous foundation of confidence heading into the rematch.

Kos hopes that Saturday is a sequel with a completely different storyline, rather than a remake of the original.  While the first fight can’t possibly leave him feeling good about the rematch, Kos is the type of athlete who is never lacking in unyielding self-belief.  He has no doubts about his chances at UFC 124.

All that is great, but what makes anyone believe that the rematch will turn out any differently than their first matchup?  Simply put, Kos has the perfect style to defeat GSP, and the champion did such a good job of showing him the flaws in his preparation and game plan that the path to victory is clearly illuminated this time around.   And it begins and ends with Kos' wrestling.

It is no secret that there are two ways to beat GSP:  catch him on the chin or put him on his back.  Serra went the former route in his stunning 2007 upset, and Matt Hughes went the latter route when he handed the then challenger the first loss of his professional career.

Kos is one of very few welterweights who combine tremendous knockout power in his fists with a world-class wrestling base.  He has repeatedly demonstrated both attributes during his five-plus years fighting inside the Octagon.  In fact, he has the edge over GSP in both categories.  They key to victory, however, will be Kos' ability to seamlessly blend together his striking and wrestling so that he can capitalize on those advantages.

In the first fight, Kos was overconfident about his ability to touch GSP's chin.  He thought that all he had to do was come out throwing haymakers, and he would eventually catch the then former champion and deliver him his second consecutive loss.  The assumption wasn't totally baseless, either.  After all, Matt Serra had defeated GSP in precisely that fashion just a few months earlier, removing the air of invincibility that had begun to form around the Canadian superstar.

What Kos failed to realize heading into that fight was that Serra's knockout would make GSP much more cautious on the feet, thereby greatly reducing the number of openings to land a fight-ending blow.   GSP has been much more conservative about engaging on the feet since that loss.  He instead uses his strikes almost exclusively as a means to create openings for takedowns.

Kos never dreamed that a guys like GSP, who had no competitive amateur wrestling experience, would be able to take him down.  He was, after all, a four time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler out of Edinboro University, not to mention the fact that he was a perfect 42-0 en route to winning the collegiate national championship in 2001.  No matter, GSP took him down on multiple occasions because Kos continually left himself off balance and out of position to effectively defend GSP's takedown attempts due to the extra heaping of mustard he kept putting on his punches.

Kos knows better this time around.   He will probably come out swinging again because that is just his personality.  He would love nothing more than to score an emphatic knockout in the opening minute of the fight.  If the knockout doesn't quickly materialize, however, it would shock me if Kos didn't begin striking solely to create openings for his own thunderous takedowns.  

He can do that by fighting in a much more controlled fashion on the feet.  Rather than winging crazy overhand rights and long roundhouse high kicks, which are easy to see coming and thus easy to avoid, he needs to keep his hands up and throw short, crisp, snapping punches, preferably starting with the jab and working combinations from there.

If Kos remains tight and technical with his kickboxing, he will land shots.  Those shots won't result in a quick knockout, but they will force GSP to pull straight back (a flaw that only Serra has been able to exploit) or raise his guard in defense.  Either way, he will be more susceptible for a takedown.

Of equal importance, throwing short, crisp shots within foundation of his fighting stance will leave Kos in great position to sprawl if GSP changes levels in an attempt to take the fight to the ground.  Anyone who watched the first fight knows that Kos lost because GSP was able to take him down multiple times.  Take away those takedowns, and the result might have been different.

Once the fight hits the ground, Kos must quickly move to control the position.  The champion is very good at quickly working back to his feet, so Kos must make sure he is flat on his back.  As GSP posts up on an arm or turns to his side, Kos will want to work to pass, or even try to snake around to his back.  But that is what GSP wants because it is easier for many guys to scramble back to the feet when a guy moves to side control than it is from the guard.  GSP is one of those guys.

Unless there is a clear opening to take his back, Kos should not take the bait.  He should take a page from vintage Hughes or Tito Ortiz, pull GSP back to a flat position and pound away from inside his guard with fists and short elbows.  The key is to put GSP on the ground and keep him there.  That is the best way to beat him, absent touching his chin with a bomb.

Speaking of touching his chin, GSP will also become more susceptible to strikes once Kos puts the fear of a takedown into his mind.  As the champion focuses on anticipating double-leg attempts, he won’t be nearly as effective at slipping strikes and changing levels for his own takedown attempts.  But again, Kos should refrain from going all out early if he experiences a little success on the feet because that will open him up to being taken down, just like it did in their first matchup.

The American Kickboxing Academy star knows that it is very unlikely that he will be able to pull out a startling submission or land truly concussive blows from his back.  GSP's top game is too good.  Thus, he should do whatever it takes to avoid being taken down.  If that means he fights a bit more technically early in the fight, then so be it.  Two or three rounds of mixing good technical striking with takedowns will leave GSP frustrated and battered.  That is when Kos can begin swinging for the fences, if he wants a spectacular knockout.  To do so any earlier is akin to giving GSP a get out of jail free card, because this is a winnable fight for Kos, regardless of what his critics are saying.

On the other side of the fence, GSP also knows exactly what he needs to do in order to win the fight.  He merely needs to put Kos on his back early and often, just like he did in the first fight.  Kos has a great defensive guard, but like GSP, he isn’t going to confuse anyone for Demian Maia any time soon.  He doesn’t want to spend a lot of time playing the guard game because minutes spent defending on the ground are minutes spent losing the fight under the current standard for judging mixed martial arts fights.

GPS knows that, which is why he always remains completely committed to taking down opponents early and often.  Since the loss to Serra, GSP has approached every fight with a highly technical game plan designed to put himself in a dominant position while taking as few risks as possible.  Until someone can stop his takedowns, GSP will continue to fight that way because he has become virtually unbeatable with that style.

That may seem counterintuitive against a guy like Kos who is a far superior wrestler.  In fact, I’ll go so far as to label Kos the single best pure wrestler in the UFC.  But, alas, MMA bouts typically aren’t decided solely by wrestling, not when guys are fighting at the truly elite level.  More often, they are decided by how well a fighter blends the various disciplines of MMA, including wrestling.  And nobody blends striking and wrestling better than GSP, which makes him one of the very best functional wrestlers in the sport.

As a result, GSP, who has no competitive amateur wrestling experience, beats even the best wrestlers by taking them down inside the Octagon.  He did it to Hughes.  He did it to Jon Fitch.  Sean Sherk.  Frank Trigg.  And he will do it to Kos for a second time, if the AKA star isn’t careful.

What intrigues me most about this matchup is seeing what happens if GSP is unable to take Kos down.  I really believe that GSP has lost confidence in his standup from the Serra fight, which is a shame because he is such a good standup fighter.  This is a guy who can pick apart opponents with beautiful combinations and crowd-pleasing kicks, if he commits to doing so.  The question, of course, is whether he will have the confidence to commit to his standup if Kos removes takedowns from the equation.

I don’t know the answer to that question.  I’m not sure if GSP’s renowned training team knows the answer, either.  What I do know is that I like the challenger’s chances if the fight unfolds that way.  Nobody in the UFC has improved his standup more dramatically over the last four years than Kos.  He has rapidly become one of the better strikers in the division, on par, in my opinion, with GSP.  I also believe he carries more destructive one-punch power.  

None of that will matter, though, if he throws crazy haymaker after crazy haymaker.  Those are too easy to defend and counter.  

I’ve been writing for years that Kos is a champion in waiting.  This guy has all the tools to be champion, and his otherworldly wrestling is the great equalizer in our sport.  He just needs to put it all together at the right time.

GSP is rightfully regarded as the very best in the sport, along with middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva, on a pound-for-pound basis.  Conventional wisdom suggests that he will win on Saturday night.  Guys who score clear decision victories repeat the feat more often than not when it comes time for a rematch.  

But I’m not a conventional type of guy, so I smell an upset brewing.

QUICK FACTS

Georges St-Pierre
•    29 yrs old
•    5-10, 170 lbs
•    20-2 overall (14-2 UFC)
•    2x UFC Welterweight Champion
•    40% of wins by KO/TKO (8 out of 20)
•    35% of wins by judges’ decision (7 out of 20)
•    25% of wins by submission (5 out of 20)
•    8-2 in title fights*
•    5-0 in his last 5
•    9-1 in last 10
•    Has never lost a judges’ decision (7-0)
•    Stopped in both professional losses (submitted once; TKO’d once)
•    9 wins in UFC championship bouts ties for 3rd all time**
•    Current streak of 4 consecutive successful UFC championship defenses ties for 4th all time**
•    9 UFC championship bouts ties for 4th all time**
•    14 UFC wins ties for 4th all time
•    Submission of the Night at UFC 79 (SUB2 by armbar over Matt Hughes on December 29, 2007)
•    Fight of the Night at UFC 87 (UD5 over Jon Fitch on August 9, 2008)
•    Current 7-fight UFC winning streak ties for 6th all time
•    16 UFC bouts ties for 12th all time
•    Current layoff of 259 days (UD5 over Dan Hardy on March 27, 2010) matches his career long (2-0 in fights after 259-day layoff)

Josh Koscheck
•    33 years old
•    5’10, 170 lbs
•    17-4 overall (13-4 UFC)
•    26.7% of wins by KO/TKO (4 out of 13)
•    33.3% of wins by submission (5 out of 13)
•    40% of wins by judges’ decision (6 out of 13)
•    First title fight
•    4-1 in last 5
•    7-3 in last 10
•    6-2 in bouts that last the distance
•    Submitted once; TKO’d once
•    13 UFC wins ties for 6th all time
•    17 UFC bouts ties for 8th all time
•    Fight of the Night  / Submission of the Night (SUB2 by rear naked choke over Anthony Johnson on November 21, 2009)
•    Knockout of the Night  (KO1 over Yoshiyuki Yoshida on December 10, 2008)
•    Current layoff 217 days is the longest of his career (UD3 over Paul Daley on May 8, 2010)

*Includes interim title bouts
**Excludes interim title bouts

Free Prelims on UFC.com/Live
For the first time ever, two preliminary bouts will be aired live and free online at http://www.ufc.com/live. The Dustin Hazelett vs Mark Bocek and Dan Miller vs Joe Doerksen fights will be available to everyone worldwide at no charge starting at 9pm ET/ 6pm PT/ 2am GMT. 

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Just Another Fight for Josh Koscheck?

"I’ve got to put him in a position where he’s uncomfortable and make him quit. Every man has a breaking point and I gotta put him in that position to where he’s questioning himself and questioning that he can win this fight." Saturday night is the latest “biggest night” of Josh Koscheck’s life. So if he seems low-key, or quiet before his challenge for Georges St-Pierre’s welterweight title, it’s because he’s been here before, whether it was competing for a National Championship in wrestling, participating in big fight after big fight in the UFC, or just in his mind, where he’s probably replayed the scenarios that will present themselves this weekend over and over again.

It’s just another night.

“I just look at it as if it’s just another fight,” he said. “I haven’t really looked at it too deeply as if this is a monster fight. I’m being conservative and I’m coming into this fight well-prepared. That’s pretty much where I’m at with my mindset right now.”

Of course, deep in his heart, Koscheck knows that the UFC 124 main event is not just another fight. A win over St-Pierre will not only net him the 170-pound title, it will change his life forever. When the history of the UFC is written, Koscheck will have his place in the Hall of Champions, something that could never be taken away. He’s also talked about fighting for the money in the past, and having a UFC title belt will significantly impact his bank account in a positive manner. So this is far from just a routine trip north of the border, and he’s smart enough to realize that. But he won’t blink, won’t give a look past the wall he’s built up over the course of an intense training camp. Not now, it’s not time. So when he’s asked if he pictured placing the belt around his waist, his resolve remains strong.

“I haven’t thought about it yet, and I’m not worried about it,” he said. “I’ve got a fight to worry about, and I don’t think about the belt. I don’t think about anything but fighting. It’s just another fight for me, and it so happens that I get to go into Montreal, Georges’ hometown, and fight him, and that’s all I’m concerned about right now.”

That’s what has brought Josh Koscheck to this moment. He’s the straightest of straight shooters, whether you like what he has to say or not, and he will not play the game just for the sake of playing it. When he does anything, it’s with one goal in mind – to win. And winning has been a habit of his since he was a child. He’s got the accolades to prove it – A 2001 NCAA Division I National Championship for Edinboro University, four-time recognition as an All-American, and 17 mixed martial arts wins against just four defeats, with much of that time spent growing up in public in the UFC. You don’t reach this point without being tough, without having a measure of resolve that allows you to step into an Octagon and be resigned to the fact that another man will punch you for the next 15 or 25 minutes. Every fighter in this sport has that. Koscheck believes he has a little more, and he definitely believes he has more than the champion he faces Saturday night.

“I think that is the case on Georges,” he said when asked whether his 2007 appraisal of St-Pierre being mentally weak still applied today. “But the question is, has anybody put him to that test or put him to that point? A couple guys have (Matt Hughes and Matt Serra), and you saw the results. They put him in a position that he wasn’t comfortable with. And that’s the same position that I’ve got to take on this – I’ve got to put him in a position where he’s uncomfortable and make him quit. Every man has a breaking point and I gotta put him in that position to where he’s questioning himself and questioning that he can win this fight.”

Years of wrestling will build you into a mentally tough, hard to break fighter, and that’s what Koscheck expects will take him through his first five round bout. In fact, he expects nothing less than to break GSP and to take his belt. And if that breaking point comes, he’ll know it.

“You can feel it and sense it,” he said. “It’s one of those things where you crack somebody and there’s no greater feeling than knowing that you just cracked this guy, you beat him, and you broke him down mentally. That’s a great feeling.”

Talking about it provides one of the rare breaks in Koscheck’s serious demeanor, one free of wisecracks, trash talk, or any other forms of levity. This is a mean business, and Koscheck is getting mean. But any suspicions of him being overtrained or leaving his fight in the gym are unfounded, as he’s put in his work while still taking the time to recharge his batteries.

“Sometimes a day off from training and resting your mind is almost as good as a day in the gym working out and riding yourself,” he said. “Those things are important for you, and I enjoy being away from the gym because when I go back it makes me hungry and makes me work harder.”

‘Hard work’ was Koscheck’s mantra throughout his stint as a coach on the recently completed season of The Ultimate Fighter. And though he didn’t place any of his fighters in the finals, he did take away enough good things to make the experience a positive one.

“I took a lot from the show,” he said. “One of the things I took from Nam Phan is that the kid runs like crazy. He runs all the time, he’s putting five to ten miles a day in, and one of the things that I took back into my training is that I needed to run more. This camp, one week I did 28 miles, so I’ve been trying to put my time in. I know that you don’t really get too many opportunities at a second chance in life, and I just need that second opportunity that I get against Georges St-Pierre on December 11th. So I’m real excited about that, and one of the things that I tried to preach to those kids is hard work, and it does pay off.”

Koscheck’s 12 weeks on television did little to endear him to fans who already had it out for him though, and as a business man as well as fighter, that was just fine with him, as evidenced by his appearance at the Honda Center in Anaheim when his American Kickboxing Academy teammate Cain Velasquez won the UFC heavyweight title from Brock Lesnar in October.

“I think Osama Bin Laden could have walked in there and got as many boos and yells as I did,” Koscheck laughs. “It shows the power of television, and I think a lot of people judge the book before they read it. But it is what it is; I’m here for business, and like I’ve always said, I’ve got close people around me who love me and care about me, and when everybody gets to meet me, it’s a different story than what they see on reality TV. Plus, it’s about making money, so if they want to hate me, I’ll just continue to let them hate me, and I’ll keep collecting those dollars.”

He says that, but you know that it’s not all about money for Koscheck. What it is all about is winning, and until Saturday night turns into Sunday morning, he won’t have the opportunity to say that he’s beaten Georges St-Pierre. Right now, that’s the punchline GSP will always have over his challenger, that he defeated him back in August of 2007. Since that bout, St-Pierre has been unstoppable. Koscheck, the last man to take as much as a round from the pride of Montreal, has a theory about that phenomenon.

“I just think that Georges has turned into a wrestler where he just wants to take guys down and lay on them and try to eek out decisions,” he said. “Maybe they respected him too much, thinking that he’s the best, on the pound-for-pound list and all those types of things. He’s been champion for a while, he’s Georges St-Pierre, he’s fast, he’s strong, he’s got good wrestling.”

Then he repeats his initial thought.

“Maybe they respected him too much, thinking that he’s better than what he is.”

Josh Koscheck may respect Georges St-Pierre, but he’s not going to tell you that. And this weekend, for 25 minutes or less, he’s not going to let St-Pierre know it either. Be strong. Be tough. No respect. And maybe when it’s over, a new champion will let you know just how he feels putting that belt around his waist.

Free Prelims on UFC.com/Live
For the first time ever, two preliminary bouts will be aired live and free online at http://www.ufc.com/live. The Dustin Hazelett vs Mark Bocek and Dan Miller vs Joe Doerksen fights will be available to everyone worldwide at no charge starting at 9pm ET/ 6pm PT/ 2am GMT. 

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The Quotable Mr. Koscheck

A polarizing figure to mixed martial arts fans, Josh Koscheck has embraced his dual role as a fan favorite and the man fans love to hate, and in the lead up to his UFC 124 main event against Georges St-Pierre, you will surely hear some incendiary comments coming from the mouth of the Ultimate Fighter season 12 coach and number one welterweight contender. Here’s just a sample of Kos’ quotables from over the course of his UFC career. On tapping out (2006)
“Hell, I’m never gonna tap. That’s just saying, ‘no mas, you’re too good today’. I got a big heart and I think there’s always a chance that I can get out of it. There’s a certain point where some people may have to tap, but I haven’t been in that position yet. As of right now, I’m not tapping.”

On getting choked out by Drew Fickett (2006)
“That’s Ultimate Fighting, and I’ve seen it happen before, where people are dominating and they get submitted. It’s part of the sport and I think about that all the time. What the hell was I thinking shooting in there? There are always what ifs, but it happened, that’s the nature of the sport, I deal with it and move on.”

On finishing fights (2007)
“With those bonuses and things like that that the UFC gives as extra incentives, when you’ve got somebody hurt, it doesn’t matter who it is, you’re trying to finish the fight. And as a fighter, if you have somebody hurt, the fighting instinct definitely kicks in, no matter who it is, and you’ve got to do whatever you need to to finish the fight. For example, if you look at my past fight with Drew Fickett, I probably had plenty of chances to end that fight early. If I would have known more about fighting or been more aggressive at certain points, then I could have probably finished that fight. So you’ve got to finish the fight, because bad things can happen the longer the fight goes on because it is the UFC, and it’s crazy.”

Before his first fight with Georges St-Pierre (2007)
“I think Georges St-Pierre is a well-rounded fighter, a good fighter, but I think he has one area that he’s very weak in and that’s his mind. I think that he’s mentally not as strong as his skills are. That’s the area I’m gonna work on and hopefully exploit in this fight, and hopefully I’ll come out with a victory.”

More thoughts on GSP (2007)
“If you look at the past history of Georges St-Pierre, he said the reason he lost against Matt Hughes was because he was fighting his idol. You don’t come out and say that. And after the loss he had against Matt Serra, he came out and said he didn’t train, and then came back and said he did train hard and he made a mistake, that type of thing. From the outside looking in, you would obviously think something’s wrong with this kid if he’s making up those kinds of stories and that type of thing. But now, I’m glad it’s out because it’s just an advantage for me because I’m mentally tough. I come from a wrestling background so the mental toughness aspect is there, so it’s just a matter of getting my skills to the level that I need to to compete with those guys.”

On toughness (2007)
“One reason why I’m tough is Edinboro wrestling. Coach Flynn, I had him fly out a couple of weeks ago, he trained me for a week, and it’s just a lot different workout than you’re used to. It’s pushing your body, but most of all, it’s pushing your mind. He had me pushing a car for a mile after I did 40 minutes of sprints, just to test me mentally and to see if I wanted to win this fight or not. The next day he had me doing a wheelbarrow with 300 pounds and he had me wheel it for 28 straight minutes, running. So it’s much more of a mental game for me, and coming from a wrestling background, wrestlers are used to that. We’re used to the grind, used to training hard, used to being put in positions and situations in training where the normal person would probably crack and fold. It’s kinda how wrestlers are grown up, I would say.”

On fighting St-Pierre (2007)
“Georges is a nice guy, but he’s trying to take food off my table. I’m trying to build a career here. This is something that I want and he’s trying to take that away from me. I don’t care if he’s a nice guy – I’ve got to kick his ass and it’s just that plain and simple. I’ve got to believe that until this fight’s over – &#$# Georges St-Pierre, he’s trying to take my dream away and that’s becoming a UFC champion. I’m not going to let him take that away from me. Maybe after the fight’s over, I’ll believe differently, but right now, my mindset is that he’s trying to take food off my table and take a dream away from me, so he’s the enemy right now as far as I’m concerned.”

On fighting “nice guys” (2007)
“I’ve worked hard to get where I am, and I feel I gotta do what I gotta do to make the fight go my way and think the way I think because that’s just the way it is. In wrestling I’ve wrestled plenty of nice guys, but when we’re out there, it’s a competition and I want to win. I don’t care about the other person and I don’t care about hurting their feelings.”

On the evolution of Josh Koscheck (2008)
“I think my fighting style has changed a lot since GSP. Mentally I was a little bit not there. I didn’t really work very much on my wrestling back then, so I’ve become more of a complete fighter and that’s one of the lessons that I’ve learned from fighting Georges St-Pierre.”

On happiness (2008)
“Now I’m happy. I told my management that I want to fight more. I want to fight as much as possible, and this year has been great because this is my fourth fight. It means I’m making money, and I’m happy.”

On the fans swinging over to his side (2008)
“It’s been a good reaction. I think the fans are starting to appreciate the fact that I am a true fighter and it just took me some to get around to that.”

On his love / hate relationship with the fans (2008)
“They love you even more after they’ve hated you, so if you can make someone hate you and then fall in love with you, you’ve got a hook for life. I look at it as a relationship. These fans might not like me, and I may not get every fan to like me, but I can’t control that. All I can control is winning and losing and training my butt off so I don’t have any lapses like the last fight (against Thiago Alves). I’m not concerned with being the good guy or the bad guy – I just want to win fights, because at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about. I’m an entertainer, but I’m also a fighter. I like to entertain people and I want them to get their money’s worth. What the hell is this crazy kid gonna do next? What is he gonna say next? And that’s the way I live. You gotta live on the edge and you’ve got to live life to the fullest.”

On trash talk (pre-Paul Daley fight - 2010)
“And when I talk trash – guess what? I show up and I fight. And that’s what this guy’s gonna have to do. He’s gonna have to realize that come May 8th, once we get into the cage, there is no more trash talking. He’s gotta shut his mouth and fight, and that’s the difference between me and this guy. He’s had a couple of good fights, but he hasn’t fought anybody like me, that’s for sure. I can guarantee that this fight won’t go past the second round. It will probably end in the first, but I may carry him to the second round.”

On being a complete fighter (pre-Paul Daley fight - 2010)
“The way I see it, Paul Daley is just a guy that just likes to talk trash and he’s a one-dimensional fighter. Those guys are from the old days – like the one-dimensional wrestler or the one-dimensional striker. Those days are over, and you’ve got to become a complete mixed martial artist. But I was at that point once. I was a one-dimensional wrestler, and coming from The Ultimate Fighter days, if you look at the evolution of Josh Koscheck, I’ve changed and I’m excited about the transition I made and the sacrifices I made to get here. I can submit guys, I can knock guys out, I can head kick guys, and I’m not gonna have a problem standing toe-to-toe with Paul Daley. He’s not gonna hit me with anything I haven’t been hit with.”

On winning (pre-Paul Daley fight - 2010)
“I feel like I’ve been through a lot to get here, and it’s been a tough six months with training and with everything going on. I’ve never done drugs, but you hear about people getting addicted to something, and while I don’t have an addictive personality, God, I love winning. When you win, there’s always an emotion that goes through your body that most people will probably never get a chance to feel, and it’s definitely unique.”

On the beautiful struggle (pre-Paul Daley fight - 2010)
“I’ve been in training camp for so long and it’s finally coming to an end – this is what you work for and what you dream about. All those nights thinking about the fight and the struggles to get here, I call it the beautiful struggle. It’s a struggle getting through training camp, getting up every day and pushing yourself and motivating yourself, and at the end of the day, the beautiful thing is that I get to go and beat somebody up for 15 minutes in front of a packed house in Canada and millions of people on Pay-Per-View. How much sweeter does it get than that? When you walk out of that tunnel and you look up, you think ‘Yeah, I made it.’”

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GSP vs Koscheck II on Dec. 11 in Montreal

BITTER RIVALS COLLIDE ONCE AGAIN AS THE ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP® RETURNS TO MONTREAL FOR UFC® 124: ST-PIERRE VS. KOSCHECK 2. Live from the Bell Centre, Saturday December 11, 2010 – Tickets on sale Saturday, Oct. 16 at 10 a.m. ET Las Vegas, NV (USA) – Once again the Ultimate Fighting Championship® heads to Montreal and it’s bringing its brightest star to illuminate the always raucous Bell Centre. Two-time UFC® welterweight champion and Montreal native Georges St-Pierre goes home to once again face his most heated rival and No. 1 contender Josh Koscheck at UFC 124: ST-PIERRE VS. KOSCHECK, presented by Affliction and live from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on Saturday, December 11, 2010.

“I love this fight,” UFC President Dana White said. “GSP is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and Josh Koscheck is not the same fighter Georges fought last time. There is no doubt that this is a title fight between the two best 170-pounders in the world. Koscheck told the people of Montreal he’s going to walk into Georges’ hometown and take the title. This fight is going to blow the roof off the Bell Centre.”

Tickets for UFC 124 will go on sale Saturday, October 16 at 10 a.m. ET and will be priced at $600, $400, $250, $150, $100 and $75. Evenko is pleased to welcome UFC to Montreal -- tickets are available at the Bell Centre box office, by phone at (514) 790-2525 / 1-877-668-8269 or at www.evenko.ca .

UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Thursday, October 14 starting at 10 a.m. ET via UFCFightClub.com. A special internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers on Friday, October 15 starting at 10 a.m. ET. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC 124 will be available live on Pay-Per-View on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available).  UFC 124 will also be available on Pay-Per-View in Spanish in the United States.

In anticipation of this historic event, UFC President Dana White, St-Pierre, Koscheck and UFC Canadian Director Tom Wright will be stopping into town for a UFC 124 press conference. The appearance will be held at the Bell Centre in Montreal on October 12 from noon to 3:30 p.m. ET. After the press conference, there will be a Q&A and autograph signing for fans.

One of the greatest champions in UFC history, Georges St-Pierre (fighting out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada / 20-2) has the speed of a lightweight and the takedown power of a light heavyweight. A man that didn’t even wrestle in high school, the 29-year-old welterweight champion has become one of the greatest pure wrestlers/grapplers in the UFC. Exciting wherever the fight goes, the Montreal native is currently riding a seven-fight win streak with names that include UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Jon Fitch, Matt Serra, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy and Koscheck. In their first meeting, GSP earned a hard-fought unanimous decision against the versatile Koscheck at UFC 74 in 2007 but many in the MMA community have since asked for the inevitable rematch of their exciting battle.

“I’m so happy that I get to fight Josh Koscheck in front of my home crowd,” St-Pierre said. “He was very disrespectful during the filming of The Ultimate Fighter® and I didn’t say a word. Now on December 11, I get to answer back with my fists. Last time I fought in Montreal, it was so loud the Octagon was shaking. I know the crowd will be even louder for this fight.”

A wrestler turned complete mixed martial artist, Josh Koscheck (fighting out of Fresno, Calif. / 17-4) has proven to be a finisher in the UFC. The four-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler and 2001 national champion has won four out of his last five fights, including a streak of three in a row. The 32-year-old has proven his versatility with KO wins over Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Frank Trigg, Chris Sanford and Dustin Hazelett and dominating submission victories against Anthony Johnson, Pete Spratt, Ansar Chalangov and Jonathan Goulet. Now the No. 1 contender for the welterweight crown gets ready for the most important fight of his career.

“I’m excited about the fight,” Koscheck said. “It’s a big rematch for me and in life you don't get second chances that often so I plan on taking advantage of this second chance. I am training every aspect of the game and can't wait to go fight in December and bring that belt back to the States. I will put on a show like I always do.”

*UFC Fans can book rooms through the Novotel Montreal Centre reservation center at 514-871-2138 and mention the UFC 124 Fan Block.

For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit UFC.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

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