KOSCHECK GETS BACK TO BASICS TO FACE TRIGG
Posted by fightstalker on Monday Sep 7, 2009 Under Featured, Frank Trigg, Josh Koscheck
For one of the most active fighters in the UFC, the last 7 months have been tough on Josh Koscheck not being able to fight, but he’ll get his wish on Sept 19 when he welcomes former top welterweight contender, Frank Trigg, back to the Octagon when the two square off at UFC 103 in Dallas.
Following a tough loss to Paulo Thiago in February, Koscheck was slated to get back in action in May, but a broken bone in his foot forced him out of his scheduled fight. The time off did give the former NCAA champion a chance to open his new gym, American Kickboxing Academy of Fresno, and get back to the core training that made him the athlete that impressed everyone during the first season of the “Ultimate Fighter.”
Koscheck brought in a strength and conditioning coach for the first time, while also focusing back on wrestling and the basics to ready himself for the challenge ahead.
“I haven’t touched a weight in over five years, I’ve never done any type of strength or weight training in five years since jumping to mixed martial arts,” Koscheck told MMAWeekly Radio recently. “I just used mostly body on body, and what it did I think it recovered my muscles, recovered my body, and brought back the strength that I used to have when I was wrestling and first got into the sport.”
Following the loss to Thiago, the call was immediately made to UFC matchmaker, Joe Silva, to get back in the cage as quickly as possible, and despite the injury that sidelined him for several months, Koscheck was happy with the end result.
“I told Joe Silva, I was like Joe I don’t give a (expletive) when I fight, I don’t care who I fight, just get me somebody,” said Koscheck. “I was excited about fighting Frank Trigg because he’s a pretty big name, he’s done his commentary and things like that, he’s fought in the UFC, so it’s definitely got me excited about training and motivated to really go out there and train my ass off for this fight.”
During his tenure in the UFC, Koscheck has been known as a rapidly developing fighter, working on his stand-up constantly to help compliment his tremendous wrestling game. For this fight though, Koscheck says it was time to get back to the basics and remember what made him a champion.
“It’s what I’ve been doing my whole life, competing in wrestling, and getting back to the grind of hardcore training,” stated Koscheck. “I just feel I need to rebuild that, maybe it was a mental thing. I’m just in great shape and I’m focused on what I’ve got to do, and that’s dominate every position and win this fight.”
Facing another wrestler is always a special challenge, but the former Edinboro stand-out knows what he has to do to beat Trigg, and he’ll follow that plan to the end.
“I know I have a good gameplan for this fight, and I’m going to stick to the gameplan,” said Koscheck. “If the gameplan doesn’t work, I’m going to make it work somehow.”
From his early days in the UFC, Koscheck has always had the potential to be one of the best in the sport, and despite a couple of bumps in the road, he still has the skills to compete against any top welterweight. Regardless of what’s in the future for Koscheck, he’s only focused on one thing, and the rest, well he’ll deal with that later.
“My goal right now is to win against Frank Trigg and I’ll deal and express my goals after Frank Trigg,” Koscheck said. “I’m real focused on him, and I know he’s going to come to fight and I can’t expect anything less than that.”
