Josh Koscheck has seen it all in his UFC tenure. The Pennsylvania native first came to prominence as an anti-hero on The Ultimate Fighter season 1, where his bitter rivalry with Chris Leben led him to being labelled as one of the show’s most disliked cast members. When Koscheck made his full debut, his bad guy image followed him. Instead of fighting it, he embraced it and became one of the greatest heels to ever enter the Octagon.
While Koscheck is in the twilight of his career now, it is easy to forget just how crucial he has been for the UFC over the last decade. He has taken on all comers and never shied away from a daunting challenge, amassing a record of 8-2 in his first 10 fights in the promotion. That included a hard-fought decision loss to Georges St-Pierre, which sparked a career-defining rivalry with the Canadian.
Speaking with MMAJunkie.com in the build up to his UFC 184 main card bout against Jake Ellenberger, Josh Koscheck reflected upon his hectic early career:
“I’ve been around for a long time,” Koscheck said. “One year, I had like six or seven fights in a year span. I fought a lot when I was younger. As you get older, you’ve got to adjust things in your body to stay healthy and keep your mind fresh. I’ve fought a lot, I’ve never said no to fights and I’ve always stepped up when the UFC needed me. I’m willing to do the same now, so I think our sport needs to continue to be a good sport, clean sport, and have role models.”
For Koscheck, the highs were high – his career thus far has included victories over UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes, Chris Lytle, and a submission of the night victory over Anthony Johnson. Likewise, when Koscheck lost it was usually in brutal fashion. Paulo Thiago and Tyron Woodley knocked the AKA export out and the aforementioned GSP fractured his orbital bone with a barrage of jabs in their title fight at UFC 124.
With only two fights remaining on his contract there doesn’t seem to be a lot left for him to do in his career, but following his long absence from the sport, Koscheck feels he has grown exponentially as a fighter.
“I think this time off was a great opportunity for me to improve in a lot of areas, especially becoming a more complete fighter,” Koscheck said. “The time off was well needed. I’ve had a long career with the UFC, and I think that this time off was important time, but also I improved in a lot of areas I needed to improve in.”
While a win over Ellenberger could propel him back into the top 10, it is certainly not an easy match-up. Koscheck will be facing a wrestler with brutal knockout power, and while Ellenberger has himself been going through a bad patch as of late, he is always just one punch away from ending the fight.
For Koscheck, there is only one way he wants to wind up his professional fighting career and that is inside the UFC:
“I started my career with the UFC and hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to end my career with the UFC,” Koscheck said. “I’d like to have that opportunity to win two more fights and then see. I’ll talk to Dana and then see what the future holds for me and what direction it goes. For me, right now, I’m focused on this one day at a time until I get that opportunity.”
UFC 184 goes down on Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California and is headlined by a women’s bantamweight title fight between Ronda Rousey and Cat Zingano.