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About This Page: This is a discussion on Other Sports within the LetsGoKings.com forums, at Los Angeles Kings Hockey Fan Forum. Originally Posted by Mr. Bill
Fedor has been fighting for Bodog.
Well more accurately, Fedor has fought for Bodog. He's only had one fight under their banner and hasn't fought
Well more accurately, Fedor has fought for Bodog. He's only had one fight under their banner and hasn't fought for them since the Matt Lindland fight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Bill
Take it for what it's worth, my feeling is we will not get a chance to see Fedor in the UFC at all. Nothing to back it up with, just a gut feeling.
I'm fairly optimistic about Fedor fighting for the UFC. I don't think K-1 has the scratch to be a major player in MMA. And while Bodog certainly has enough money, I don't think they are very serious about creating a legitimize MMA organization. The UFC is probably his best and really only option if he wants to make a lot of dough.
__________________ "11:19 -- You're not gonna believe this, but J.D. Drew took a called third strike to end the inning.
(Note: Dodgers, Braves and Cardinals fans everywhere are nodding and saying, "Yup ... been there, done that.")
I'm fairly optimistic about Fedor fighting for the UFC. I don't think K-1 has the scratch to be a major player in MMA. And while Bodog certainly has enough money, I don't think they are very serious about creating a legitimize MMA organization. The UFC is probably his best and really only option if he wants to make a lot of dough.
I'm about 50/50 at this point. There's some major sticking points going on right now and I don't see the UFC moving. It depends on whether or not Fedor and his camp is willing to budge really. Both sides know they're top dog. UFC for promotion and money. Fedor for "legitimacy". Not that the UFC needs him, but they certainly want him.
I can understand both sides in it too, but we'll see who blinks. I don't think Fedor is ready to give in at this point, and I don't see Dana giving in EVER. If something happens though, I figure it will be within the next six months. At least, I hope it will be.
Alright let's get our picks out of the way for UFC 74.
Randy Couture Vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
This is more of a sentimental pick than anything. Most of the tools favor Gonzaga. He's bigger than Couture and although Randy has solid standup, I'd say Gonzaga's is a tad better.
Randy's takedowns and ground and pound are better BUT Gonzaga is a black belt in BJJ. He won't be afraid to fight off his back. All things considered though, I think Randy is too smart and experienced to get caught in a submission. I also think he's too smart to get caught by a headkick or flying knee. Randy will be tough to beat, I think he'll grind out a decision or even beat Gonzaga via TKO by ground and pound.
Georges St. Pierre Vs. Josh Koscheck
Probably the hardest fight on the card to call. I'm taking GSP only because I think his superior overall skills will be too much for Koscheck. I do think that Koscheck will give him a tough time, and GSP will get taken down numerous times in this fight.
One thing that stood out to me. When Koscheck double legged Diego near the first round of their fight, Diego took Koscheck's back quite easily. I think that's one of the reasons Koscheck was content to backup and throw overhand rights at Diego till the bell rang. GSP won't be as timid as Diego and because of his striking, Kos will have to go for the takedowns. GSP is very capable of the ground of reversing Koscheck and I think he'll be able to get up pretty easily.
However, the real factor in this fight is GSP's mental state. If he's nervous and cautious because of his fight against Serra he'll lose. Koscheck is a tough opponent who has been improving his skills with every fight.
Joe Stevenson-Kurt Pellegrino
Bottom line, I think Stevenson is better on the ground than Pellegrino and he certainly has better standup. I think Joe finds away to leg lock Pellegrino sometime in the second round.
Kendall Grove-Patrick Cote
I'm picking Grove to win here because of his superior size and ground game. If Grove keeps Cote at the end of his jab and gets Cote to the ground I think he'll win this fight fairly easily. Cote has a decent sprawl and good sub defense but I think Grove is too skilled for him on the ground.
One thing though, Cote has heavy, heavy hands and Grove's chin has been questioned(see his fight with Joe Riggs). It'll be important for him to use his long reach to keep Cote at bay. If Cote lands a big shot, Grove will be in a world of trouble.
I have a hard time believing B.J. Penn shouldn't be in that. You might argue that he's lost two of his last three fights, but they were against the best Welterweight in UFC history. . .and a VERY close decision to GSP. If you're saying best P4P, how can he not be Top 5? Would you say Hendo is a better MMA fighter than B.J? I wouldn't. Rampage? No way. I'd put Silva and Fedor and probably Shogun ahead, but that's about it. Even Shogun I might hesitate because of the rule changes he's going to encounter. Every fight of his I see him doing foot stomps to the head and soccer kicks. That ain't gonna help too much in the UFC. I think he'll do fine, but it will be a hell of an adjustment seeing as that was always one of his main attacks in the fights I've seen.
Bottom line, I think B.J. is top 5 probably. Top 10? You're God damn right.
Interesting Josh Koscheck interview. Very candid about a lot of points. Definitely worth a read.
Quote:
UFCmania: What’s up Josh? Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions for us here at UFCmania.com. What’s going on right now?
Josh Koscheck: No problem. Thanks for the opportunity. Training is pretty much done — I’ve put a good three months in for this fight. I went in today for a light workout with one of my training partners. I’m going to go back tonight to get my lungs open with a little cardio and that’s about it. I’m feeling great and I’m ready to fly out to Vegas tomorrow provided I don’t miss my plane.
UFCmania: You’re coming off of a big win at UFC 69 over Diego Sanchez. How’s life been different since that fight?
Josh Koscheck: It really hasn’t been different because I’ve been in training camp all year. I really don’t do other things outside of training, my clothing company and some of the other things I have to do. So I haven’t really had the opportunity to do much like travel or anything like that. I’ve been training ever since the New Year. I went straight back to training right after the Diego fight.
mar clothing
UFCmania: Considering the volatile history between you and Sanchez did that win feel better than some of the others?
Josh Koscheck: It felt good. It felt real good to avenge a loss and that’s one of the biggest things as a fighter you want to do. As a fighter if you have a loss you always want to beat that other guy and show yourself that you have improved. That win shows that I’m an improving fighter and I definitely proved to myself that I could beat him. So it was a good win and a good feeling.
UFCmania: It was later revealed that he had a serious staph infection going into the fight. Is that an excuse or do you feel you beat the “real” Diego at 100 percent that night?
Josh Koscheck: Well, everyone always has excuses when they lose fights. Just look at Georges St. Pierre – he made all those retarded excuses about not training right and all of the other stuff when he lost to Matt Serra. If you lose it’s time to man-up, admit it and take responsibility for your loss. You didn’t win that day – too bad. Don’t make excuses about it.
UFCmania: The feud is obviously not over yet. Are there plans for a rematch anytime soon if maybe things don’t go your way this weekend or is it too early to even think about?
Josh Koscheck: Well, things are going to go my way this weekend. I’m not really focused on anything else other than what is on my plate right now. And that’s Georges St. Pierre. All I’m thinking about right now is flying out to Vegas tomorrow and resting up for this fight. I’m not looking ahead or past Georges for the next few days at least.
UFCmania: Real quick … what are your thoughts on the upcoming fight between Sanchez and your American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) training partner, Jon Fitch?
Josh Koscheck: You know, Diego is in a lot of trouble. I train with Jon Fitch on a regular basis at AKA and he’s an absolute animal. He’s the man. Fitch is going to smash Diego Sanchez. I think it’s going to be an easy fight for Fitch.
UFCmania: It was clear that you had a specific gameplan for Sanchez that clearly paid off. Any clues as to what ‘exciting strategy‘ you have in store for St. Pierre?
Josh Koscheck: Absolutely, tune in on Saturday night and watch. That’s all I can say. People will get to see the gameplan that we’ve put together for Georges and it’s going to be something exciting, something different. It’s definitely something that fans have not yet seen from me — that’s all I’m going to say right now. Talk to me after the fight if you want all the specifics.
UFCmania: Tell us how the training is going for St. Pierre. Are you drilling anything different?
Josh Koscheck: I don’t train for specific fighters. I just train to fight. And that’s every aspect of the game.
UFCmania: St. Pierre has earned a reputation — fair or not — of being “mentally weak” despite his obvious physical talents and abilities. Is there any way to exploit that? Or do you see any advantage to knowing that coming into this fight?
Josh Koscheck: Fighters have ups and downs in training and during fights — same goes during their careers. I’m never going to take a fight lightly and I’m certainly not going to take Georges St. Pierre lightly. I’m prepared to fight the best Georges St. Pierre ever. That’s the mental state where I’m at right now. I’m going to do what I did in training and what I have prepared for during the last three months.
UFCmania: What was the thinking behind the “no heart/weak chin” comment? Is that just fight hype or do you really believe that?
Josh Koscheck: If you need a sports psychologist you definitely have some loose screws. And I think that Georges doesn’t have the heart that he thinks he does. He relies a lot on his athletic ability to get him out of trouble and make up for what he lacks in terms of heart. I’m definitely going to test his heart. Don’t get me wrong, Georges St. Pierre is a nice guy, but ****, I’m a nice guy, too. I want to whoop his ass. It’s business — this is my career and my livelihood on the line. I’m trying to hurt that fool.
UFCmania: What did you think of his loss to Serra at UFC 69?
Josh Koscheck: It was exciting because it shows that anyone in the welterweight division — whether it’s the number one, two, three, four or five guy — can win on any given night. It’s cool to see that down the line anything can happen. Serra did that and showed what mixed martial arts is all about.
UFCmania: Matt Hughes recently had a prediction on your upcoming fight and some choice words about Josh Koscheck (I read him this line). Thoughts?
Josh Koscheck: Matt Hughes is on drugs, man. I’ll probably kick Matt Hughes in the neck (more on Hughes later).
UFCmania: Are you more concerned with winning fights or pleasing the crowd?
Josh Koscheck: The crowd can suck my ass because I’m going to get booed no matter what I do during a fight. It’s often a bunch of drunks in the stands who don’t understand the technique and aspects of mixed martial arts. These people just want to see knockouts. So when fans here can understand — like Japanese crowds do — the importance of takedowns and passing guard and nuances like that then maybe I’ll care. My job is to win fights. That’s what it’s about if you want to get to the belt — bottom line. It’s bull**** that all the guys who fight exciting fights get asked to come back. I’ve seen tons of guys lose exciting fights and they are not in the UFC anymore … they’re nowhere to be found.
UFCmania: Have you ever thought about fighting at 155 pounds? Is that even possible for you since you competed in college at 174 pounds?
Josh Koscheck: Mid-training camp I walk around at about 196 pounds. Right now I’m at about 184 pounds. Fighting at 155 pounds would be out of the question.
UFCmania: Do you regret not going to the Olympics and possibly putting a ribbon on your illustrious wrestling career?
Josh Koscheck: No, absolutely not. I believe that you make decisions in life and you can’t regret them. I made a good decision to go and fight, which was actually a financial decision. I really didn’t know much about fighting until about 2004 when I first got into it. Now, this is the last fight on my UFC contract and I’m in a good spot. This is a big fight for me.
UFCmania: This is really the last fight on your contract? Do you plan to renegotiate?
Josh Koscheck: I believe so … three years or nine fights. Of course, but I’m focused on Georges St. Pierre right now. We’ll figure out all that stuff after the fight.
UFCmania: If you weren’t fighting, what would you be doing? Would you still be wrestling or coaching?
Josh Koscheck: I have some real estate ventures and this clothing company is something that I have been thinking about for as long as I can remember. I’d probably just be focusing on those two things.
UFCmania: Tell us about MAR Clothing … what’s that all about?
Josh Koscheck: MAR Clothing is something that I have been interested in since I was a kid. Now it’s just starting to pound out, you know? I’ve got some shoes coming over from China, which will be here tomorrow, and we’re just taking the business one day at a time. In addition to the clothing, we have skateboards coming, board shorts and all kinds of stuff planned.
UFCmania: Is that your company or just a line you have with MAR?
Josh Koscheck: It’s 100 percent my company — I started it on a piece of scrap paper and now it’s for real. It’s something that is fun and interesting. It’s kind of like my UFC career: It started from nothing to now I’m at a point where I know everything about it. It is also something to fall back on. I can’t fight forever.
UFCmania: What does Mar stand for?
Josh Koscheck: Leave a mark or blemish. In Spanish it means beach by the ocean.
UFCmania: If you were allowed to punch the face of anyone in the UFC who would it be?
Josh Koscheck: Chris Leben. Why not? He’s a punk … always running his mouth about something and then he gets his ass kicked.
UFCmania: I spoke with Terry Martin last week (coming soon) and he’s confident that he is going to hurt Leben real bad when the two meet at UFC Fight Night 11 next month.
Josh Koscheck: That’s pretty awesome. I want to definitely see him get his ass kicked because he pussed out against one of my training partners, Mike Swick. That was going to be a main event on Spike television and Leben didn’t want to fight him because he was scared. I hope Terry Martin does kick his ass. He’s got real heavy hands and it’s probably a worse match up for Leben than Swick.
UFCmania: If you could only fight one more time — forever — and you could fight anybody in the world of MMA, past or present, who would you like to fight?
Josh Koscheck: I’d like to shut Matt Hughes up. Now you’ve got me thinking about him (laughs). I mean me and Hughes have been cool but he’s always been arrogant and cocky. People who think I’m arrogant and cocky have to look at Matt Hughes — he’s ten times worse.
UFCmania: Would that fight turn into a wrestling match?
Josh Koscheck: Not at all. It would be me picking him apart, punching and kicking him whenever I want. He can’t take me down, come on. What was he, a one-time All American? And if we did wrestle I’d beat him by 15 points, easy.
UFCmania: Did the experience on season one of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) help our hurt your career?
Josh Koscheck: Being on The Ultimate Fighter was cool because it helped me begin to develop a complete game. I knew from that experience that I need to step it up and learn more about mixed martial arts.
UFCmania: Finally, you get this question all the time, but I’m going to go with a new angle. Between Jon Fitch and Mike Swick, who is the tougher match up for Josh Koscheck. Not necessarily the better fighter, but the dude who you think stylistically would give you more problems?
Josh Koscheck: Definitely Jon Fitch. He’s real tough. Now Mike Swick is a tough dude, too. These guys are both tough and present different problems. Mike Swick is long, tall and really tough on his feet. On the ground Swick probably isn’t at my level. On the feet he’s phenomenal. Now Jon Fitch is so well-rounded — he’s tough everywhere. I don’t want to disrespect either one of these guys because they’re my training partners and a very big reason that I am successful. We train our asses off together. Both of those guys are tough. I just think that right now Jon Fitch is a little bit above Mike but not that far.
UFCmania: Okay Josh, we’re almost done. Just want to do some quick word association. I’m going to say something and you just give me the first thing that comes to mind.
Josh Koscheck: Um … okay.
UFCmania: Diego Sanchez
Josh Koscheck: Punk!
UFCmania: Lay n’ Pray
Josh Koscheck: Gay
UFCmania: Blonde or brunette
Josh Koscheck: Brunette … damn blondes
UFCmania: Steroids
Josh Koscheck: Illegal
UFCmania: Split-decisions
Josh Koscheck: Uncalled for
I think Sherk wins this fight. He will be stronger, better shape, and confident. I do not think BJ can stop his takedowns, and I do not think he can submit Sherk. Sherk will be in so much better shape. I was not impressed with BJs cardio in the Jens fight.
Is this guy retarded? Not impressed with BJ's cardio? Did he not see BJ just rip apart his friend. I know he had a front row seat right next to Robbie Lawler.
Jens got destroyed in every facet of the fight that night. Hughes is an idiot.
Some more news. GSP is officialy a member of Greg Jackson's team down in New Mexico.
Quite an upgrade for team Jackson. Basically upgraded from Diego to GSP.
Quote:
GSP OFFICIAL ADDITION TO JACKSON TEAM
Highly regarded New Mexico coach Greg Jackson says he and his fighters expect to log a lot of air miles to Montreal in the coming months, with the recent addition of Quebec native Georges St. Pierre to his stable. St. Pierre recently dropped his trainer, ex-Soviet Special Forces sniper Victor Vargotsky, in favor of the Albuquerque-based Jackson, who mentors fighters like Rashad Evans, Nate Marquardt and Keith Jardine. St. Pierre hosted the trio for a two-week training camp at his home in Candiac. St. Pierre, who is preparing for his upcoming UFC 74 match-up against Josh Koscheck, feels he made the best decision to help himself evolve as a fighter.
“It’s absolutely great, and I think I am blessed because I am lucky to be able to train with such a great group of guys and under Greg Jackson, who is the best MMA coach in my book,” St. Pierre says. “People say you’re only as good as your training partners, and I believe that is the truth.”
Jackson tells The Great Fight North he has traveled to the Quebec city a couple times before to train GSP. He says it’s likely he’ll make it a regular destination for his team to get a change of scenery, noting he loves to visit the museums in the province.
- really want to see Couture win but can't quite convince myself. I say TKO 3rd round.
Georges St. Pierre Vs. Josh Koscheck
- I've made it well known how much crazy man-love I have for GSP. I don't see a total domination on his part, cause Kos does have that great wrestling background, but I see a sumbission in the late 2nd/early 3rd. I just think GSP will have a counter for anything Kos throws at him.
Joe Stevenson-Kurt Pellegrino
- can't remember seeing a Pellegrino fight before (probably have but just can't remember him at all), so I'm going with Joe Daddy simply because of the roll he's been on recently.
Kendall Grove-Patrick Cote
- don't really like him (not really sure why, but the guy just kinda bugs me), but gotta go with Grove on this one. I've never seen anything all that impressive from Cote. And the reach advantage will play a huge part I think. I really believe that we'll see a smarter Kendall in this fight, in no small part to his recent training with Randy.
Good, I would have preferred a Vera-Arlovski fight but Vera-Sylvia works.
Definitely the best fighter Vera has faced. It'll be a really good test for him and it's a tough opponent for Sylvia, one who will make him fight.
Also, the card is fairly strong now. Hopefully they put one more solid fight on there. Reports are that Tito doesn't want his rematch to be on this card because he prefers that the fight happens in Vegas.
SmytheKing
