Sport category: Fighters Josh Koscheck Dont Look Back
Date: 18-03-2006 12:03
It was the equivalent of pitching a perfect game for eight and two-third innings and losing the game with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth. Rising welterweight prospect Josh Koscheck was cruising through his bout with veteran Drew Fickett last October, and once he put his foe on his back yet again, it was just a matter of time until his hand was raised in victory yet again.
But the two fighters, not active enough on the ground, were forced to restart from a standing position by referee John McCarthy. No worries there for the Buffalo native. The former Division I national wrestling champion would just shoot in on Fickett again and plant him on the mat, like he had done with little effort throughout the bout.
As he went in for the takedown, Fickett landed a perfectly timed knee and Koscheck fell to the mat like he was shot. As he tried to get his bearings back, Fickett, an experienced jiu-jitsu ace, sunk in a rear naked choke.
Koscheck wouldn’t tap.
“Hell, I’m never gonna tap,” he said. “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.”
Seconds later though, Koscheck paid the price for not tapping, and he was asleep, with the fight being halted due to a technical submission. Seconds away from his third straight UFC victory, Koscheck lost.
Welcome to the fickle world of mixed martial arts.
“That’s Ultimate Fighting, and I’ve seen it happen before, where people are dominating and they get submitted,” said Koscheck. “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.”
For a guy who’s not used to losing (Koscheck was 4-0 in MMA previously and even had a 42-0 run in his national championship run in 2001) it had to be a tough pill to swallow, especially given that it was a momentary lack of focus that caused the defeat. Koscheck refuses to get caught up in what could have beens though. His eyes are set on the future.
“That was a fight that was a learning experience, and you’ve just got to look forward in your career,” he said. “Things can happen, and I just want to learn off that mistake and basically keep training and keep going forward.”
That future begins at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on April 6th’s Ultimate Fight Night show when Koscheck faces Russia’s Ansar Chalangov.
“From the tapes I’ve seen and what I’ve heard is that he is a submission wrestler, kind of like a sambo-type of fighter,” said Koscheck of his 26-year-old foe, who is coming off a loss of his own to Thiago Alves. “I’ve seen some of his fights and he’s pretty decent. He’s submitted some guys and he’s pounded some guys out, so he’s not bad. I think it’s a great style matchup for me. It’s gonna give me the ability to control where the fight goes, and that’s a good thing.”
Yet wherever the fight goes, expect Koscheck to be ready for anything, thanks to long hours at AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) in San Jose, California. Rest assured, there was no boo-hooing and sympathy given to ‘Kos’ at that gym after the Fickett fight. It was get back to work, forget the loss, and make sure the same mistake doesn’t happen again.
“I train with some of the best guys, and that’s where the encouragement comes from,” he said. “I train with Mike Swick, Trevor Prangley, Josh Thomson, Jon Fitch, so I have great training partners up at AKA. That’s where I get most of the experience from. So when you’re training with those types of guys every day, your game has to elevate or you’ll be left in the dust. I’ve also trained with BJ Penn twice for a couple of weeks each time, and Sean Sherk, so when I can put myself in any type of situation, then I’m gonna improve.”
Koscheck has improved by leaps and bounds since his stint on the first season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, with wins over Chris Sanford and Pete Spratt painting him as a fighter to watch at 170 pounds. A win over Fickett would have pushed him even further, but now it’s time to step back and start a new winning streak. Koscheck isn’t the most patient sort though, as evidenced by his response when asked when he thinks he’ll be ready to make a run at the elite in the deepest division in the UFC.
“I’m ready to compete with those guys right now, it’s just whether the UFC is gonna allow that to happen or not,’ said Koscheck. “I don’t want to fight Ansar Chalangov, I want to fight the bigger guys, the better guys, and guys that have the potential of putting me in the top two, three, or four in the world. That’s what I’m looking at, and within the next year, that’s where I’m gonna be.”
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