During an open workout this week for tonight’s UFC on FOX event, fighter Josh Koscheck had some very strong words for the media.
“A lot of you people write all these stories,” Koscheck said. “‘Youth versus age,’ Bull [expletive]. You guys are all [expletive] retards. Retards. I laugh at you idiots. … Every one of you, counting me out, I love it. Keep counting me out. I’ll be fighting for four or five more years. Every time you write a story about me, just say I’m too old. Too washed up, too many fights, too many miles.”
How often do you see athletes call the media that cover them “idiots” and “retards?” If this were another athlete in a different sport, I’d imagine it would cause a much larger debate on athletes vs the media. Koscheck is a fighter who opinions are largely divided on. Many absolutely despise his cocky, brash persona, but others have accepted it. His fighting style (which is based in wrestling) has been criticized for being boring, but he’s evolved his style enough to the point where he’s a much more complete fighter than he was when he came into the UFC back in 2005.
I’m really not sure why fans and members of the MMA media are so quick to count Koscheck out against his opponent, Johny Hendricks. Hendricks is known for incredible knockout power in his hands, but like Koscheck, his base is wrestling. Koscheck has been knocked out just once in his career (February 2009), and has currently won five of his last six fights, with the one loss coming to dominant UFC welterweight champion Georges St Pierre.
Hendricks isn’t a slouch, with a 7-1 career record in the UFC, and in his last fight, he knocked out Koscheck’s training partner, Jon Fitch. But aside from the Fitch win, Hendricks hasn’t beaten a top ten (or even top 15) opponent. He’s nowhere near as experienced as Koscheck, but many are writing the fight off as an easy win for Hendricks. Koscheck has a right to be pissed off at the media for underestimating him. Hendricks is a slight favorite over Koscheck as of Friday night, according to BetOnFighting.com. Koscheck is three fights removed from a title fight, and he’s an underdog to a guy who has beaten one top 15 fighter in his career. Yeah, I’d probably be pissed if I were him too.
[h/t: Yahoo]
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