Koscheck doesn’t care about the boos
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Josh Koscheck doesn’t quite understand the boos that inevitably greet him at UFC events. He doesn’t much care, either. “Everybody’s going to think I’m a villain until they meet me and then they’re going to want to hang out with me because they realize that it’s totally opposite,” the mixed martial arts welterweight said. “I guess you’ve got to have somebody be the bad guy, and bad guys make a lot of money, too.”
Koscheck emerged as the man fans love to hate from the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality TV show. And he has continued to speak out, delighting his fans while enraging others.
Koscheck (11-2) can expect another torrid reception Saturday night when he climbs into the cage against 21-year-old Ohio native Dustin Hazelett (12-3) at UFC 82: Pride of a Champion at the Nationwide Arena.
Whatever happens in his comeback bout since losing a decision to Montreal’s Georges St. Pierre last August at UFC 74, Koscheck’s post-fight routine will probably be the same. The 30-year-old will leave Fresno, Calif., with fishing rod in hand.
A Pennsylvania native, Koscheck grew up in steelhead fishing country. He kept it up while wrestling at Edinboro University, adding fly-fishing to his repertoire.
“One year I was hurt in wrestling and I probably fished 40 some days in a row while I was in college. I just fell in love with it,” he said. “It’s something I’ve always loved to do and always get time after my fights to go out and get away for three, four days and do some fly-fishing. Not only do I fish, I tie my own flies too. I’m really, really into fly-fishing.
Vancouver, Montana, the West Coast. He has visited them all to fish and says if he wasn’t a pro fighter, he’d like to fish for a living.
But when not relaxing over a fishing rod, Koscheck has a need for speed. He rides street bikes, favoring a Yamaha YZF-R1.
“A nasty machine,” he said. “I just sold mine. I’m looking to buy another one so if you know anyone who’s wants to sell me a good R1, send them my way.”
Koscheck has also developed his own clothing line known as Mar (www.marclothing.com). Launched last summer, it’s billed as “an urban clothing label, which represents what California coastal lifestyle is all about.”
Koscheck wears his gear to his fights and has enlisted the likes of Chuck Liddell, Mike Swick and training partner Jon Fitch to show it off. The business is growing already and Koscheck hopes to use that success to help up-and-coming fighters.
“We have guys at our gym that live out of an RV right in front of the gym. We have guys that live in the gym. I remember being in their shoes, living in the gym for six months and going home and not having money and things like that.
“For me it’s something I want to grow to a national powerhouse, and be able to give back to the fighters, sponsor up-and-coming fighters that are out there needing a few extra hundred bucks here or there to pay their bills or their rent or even just to eat.”
Koscheck has been eager to fight again since losing to St. Pierre. When champion Matt Serra had to withdraw from his December title fight with Matt Hughes, Koscheck was quick to volunteer his services – only to have the UFC opt for St. Pierre.
He tried two others times to secure a fight, but failed. So he has essentially been training for six months.
“I’m always looking forward to getting into the cage because that’s the fun part,” he said. “The training is the hard and shitty part. Getting in front of the fans, getting on TV, that type of stuff is always the fun part.
He hasn’t bothered looking at the tape of the GSP fight (“I lived it so I know what I did wrong.”) and hasn’t spent too much time scouting Hazelett (“It’s what it is, it’s going to be a fight.”).
But he learned from the loss to St. Pierre. Koscheck may be a former NCAA wrestling champion who has added decent striking to his game but says St. Pierre taught him he has to better link those skills.
“If it was just straight wrestling I’d probably beat him (St. Pierre) by 10 or 15 points, he’s not even in the same league in straight wrestling,” Koscheck said. “But this sport is about mixed martial arts, it’s wrestling, jiu-jitsu, boxing, Muay Thai and everything wrapped in one. … I definitely need to improve in that area where I need to get my wrestling, my boxing, my kickboxing and my jiu-jitsu and everything, and make it complete so I can use it at any given second like a Georges St. Pierre could.”
Copyright Associated Press 2008