“YES, I would have liked to see the ref let the fight go on a little bit more because we are all fighters and we fight until the end. Yes, I got hit hard, but felt as though I could have recovered if I had the chance. As for next time, my message to all the ref’s would be to, please let the fight go until I’m put out to sleep. . . Just so I don’t have the thought of what if, going through my mind and probably the minds of all of you, my fans. I took this fight just as if I was fighting the number one fighter in the weight class. I felt like I did everything right in the training camp to win this fight. I was in great shape, but sometimes you still come up short in life even when I have put my whole life on hold for a chance to put everything on the line in the cage for 15 minutes. I don’t think I could have done anything different in training camp to make the outcome go my way, so I guess that’s life…. I could be like a lot of other people and cry about it for weeks and months and make a big deal about it, but it’s now when the true character and discipline of a person is tested…. This is a time of challenge and controversy for me but it is my passion and I’m going to get up and do what I do best and that is go back to the gym and train to become the best. I will not make excuses for losing a fight, but yes I may get mad and yell a bit, but at the end of the day there is only one person that can control this and that’s me. So maybe someday we can do a rematch, it would make for a good fight. The training for my fight on May 23 at UFC 98 starts Monday, March 2 at 11:30am. Keep checking back for my video blog on my training camp. Road to 98!”
– Josh Koscheck talks about the now controversial stoppage during his knockout loss to Paulo Thiago at UFC 95: “Sanchez vs. Stevenson” at The O2 Arena in London, England, on Feb. 21, on his Web site blog. “Kos” walked into an uppercut and appeared to be out before he hit the canvas; however, he was jolted back to reality as soon as his head hit the floor. He was not totally out and the referee jumped in thinking he was unable to intelligently defend himself. We may never know if he would have been able to recover. Regardless, in typical Koscheck fashion, he’s already put the upset behind him and looking to return at UFC 98 on May 23. No opponent is known at this time.
83 Comments »
I thought it was stopped prematurely. If all refs jumped in this fast, Nog would never have got passed Herring, let alone Silvia.
Yeah I would have liked to see Kos get a chance to recover but it was a split second before the ref had decided let it go on or stop it so I can’t really complain. I think Kos is trying to say something to BJ here. “Yeah I would like it to have gone differently but I’m going to get back to training and maybe down the line I’ll get a rematch” Well spoken man.
If he was unconscious for any amount of time, even that short time between taking the uppercut and hitting the canvas, then thre ref would be irresponsible to let it continue. To me it was similar to the Liddell-Rampage fight when Rampage knocked Chuck senseless with the right hook, then Chuck was woken up when Rampage landed a few shots from the top. Chuck thought he was OK to continue, even though he has no recollection of a few seconds of his life.
that was a good stoppage…. and it sounds to me like he is ‘crying’ about it
either way it’s good to have a fighter that fights as often as kos… i hope he gets back to winning ways
anybody have any ideas to who his next opponent might be??
agreed boys…tough one to call…in ultra slow-mo its looks as though he could have continued but obviously hind sight is 20/20 and the ref isn’t afforded the luxery of watching it at slower speeds…
Im with PW and UFC addict on this one!
even if you are OUT for a split second…..rules state that YOU LOSE!!!! Doesnt Kos realize that he is bitching and complaining?
Kos was supposed to face Karo at UFC 98, but now that Karo is suspended its not going to happen. There really arent to many options out there considering Kos refuses to fight Swick or Fitch.
My guess is that he will have to face someone like Akahiro GOno or Stun Gun, but what do I know?
“I took this fight just as if I was fighting the number one fighter in the weight class.”
But yet.. he refused to get any footage on his opponent Paulo Thiago.. IMO he totally under estimated Paulo.. he slept on him hard body.. and Paulo stole time from him..cuz Kos got drugged with that upper cut.. and then left hook..Kos was out.
pw im sorry this is nothing like the chuck stoppage chuck was on the ground going limp while rampage was hitting him. paulo didnt jump on koscheckand koscheck was pulling a defensive position. bad stoppage even if joe rogan thinks different
pw it would only have been like the chuck stoppage if Paulo had jumped on him and continued to hit him while he was on the ground. If the ref had stopped the Chuck/Rampage fight right when Chuck fell from the right hook, then it would be the same, but Page jumped on Chuck quick and pounded him out. Chuck didn’t wake up until Big John had already stopped the fight, but he was only completely out for like 1.5 seconds….
you think he would’ve seen that uppercut if he watched videos on him? I don’t think so.. he came out dominating, hit him with some hard shots got overconfident made a mistake and got caught.. they should’ve let the fight go on in my mind, Thiago made a mistake when he wasn’t going in for the finish after he knocked him down and when the ref jumped in Kos was pretty much back.. but that’s the way it goes
Paulo should have jumped on him, landed one punch, and then I would say it was a perfect stoppage. It wasn’t a terrible stoppage. Better too early than too late. Anthony Johnson anyone?
PW, John, UFCaddict:
By the strictest interpretation of the rules, he lost, but the fights aren’t usually called like that so if you’re the guy that gets the conservitive interpretation, you get screwed. Someone made a good point about Nog losing half his fights if this ref was in the ring. Sucks for Kos and i would bitch too.
The comparison I was making between the Kos and Chuck fights is that each was briefly knocked unconscious, then awoke with another shot to the head. In Kos’ case the shot was from the mat and not his opponent. But both were out and wanted to continue upon awakening, but both refs correctly stopped the fights.
I know what you Mean PW. It’s just that so much of it lies in the suddle details. Chuck’s body response looked wacked even after his lights turned back on. But, Kos looked coherent. The way his arms moves in a controlled fassion to prevent damage and try to pull guard……It just looked and felt different. It definitely takes a skilled ref because in a split second there’s a lot of little details that matter and it takes witnessing a lot of knockouts to get a feel for it I think.
Then Nog lost to Herring, because NO doubt about it, that head kick knocked him OUT! Where was people saying that he should’ve lost then??
I don’t think it was a good stoppage. I thought Kos was rocked, and then held up his hands to defend if the guy came barrelling in after him. Whatever though. I like Kos nowadays for his willingness to fight so often. Hope he gets back to winning or at least some good performances against some top guys. I’d like to see him take out that overhyped kid Anthony Johnson…
LOVE HIM OR HATE HIM BUT KOS IS A WARRIOR MAN. I CANT BELIEVE HES ALREADY FIGHT AT 98, I LOVE THAT. HE MUST HAVE NO LIFE THOUGH OUTSIDE OF FIGHTING. HOPEFULLY HE AHCIEVES HISS GOALS BECAUSE HES DEFINITELY PUTTING IN THE WORK.
I like Kos too he’s a warrior but i think UFC 98 is too early.. as they say the more you win and the more you fight the closer you’re getting to a loss! and i’m completely with Punch You in this convo.. the way he controlled his arms to first get back up right away, then defend himself & pull guard when Paulo came in.. If that ref had the Nog vs Herring it would’ve been over, and i was the one that mentioned that thing about Nog’s record being completely different if they had ruled his fights the same way.. bottom line that ref got scared and wanted to step in to protect the fighter in no time..
I’m pretty sure that in the pre-fight video (it’s not available anymore) he did with ESPN, Kos said that he didn’t even watch video on Thiago, so I don’t see how he can say that he took the fight like he was fighting the number one contender in the weight class. So I take it he didn’t look at tape on GSP or Alves when he fought them?
My honest opinion, and I said this right after the fight as well, is that since Kos never heard of this guy, he underestimated Thiago, disregarded him before the fight, and was looking past him.
“I could be like a lot of other people and cry about it for weeks and months….” You guys think thats a shot to BJ?
sure sounds like it
Absolutely, it is a shot at BJ. And no, he is not crying about the loss, he is simply saying his piece, as any fighter, or athlete would do after a fight, win, lose, or draw. Nevermind a controversial finish, which it obviously was, considering it’s a split on choice of what we, the fans think of the stoppage. I, for one, really enjoy Kos stepping up as often and intensely as he always does. I mean he could always “sit this one out”, for a better name opponent like so many fighters do. Sorry about your luck Kos, but he’s a warrior in my books, and it’s good to hear his side. Like Wayne Gretzky said, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. Way to keep on giv’n'er!
Agreed. I actually felt like Kos’ comment was pretty mature and well-said. I’m starting to like this guy.
That is what I was thinking as well. BJ is the champ in that department.
I hate this Cabbage Patch looking FCUKER! all he is doing is complaining. Stopped or not he was out. and if you see the tape, you can tell had the punches continued he would have been hurt far worse. Premature stoppage…maybe….but was it necessary, definitely.
Koscheck is a baby. not once has he even given his opponent the respect for winning. he comes off as such an a hole. which i alreday thought he was. just take you loss and move on. by him making this statement he is just crying more. he says he is gonna be the bigger man and move on, he already had that chance and blew it
Kos got KTFO! You could see it in his eyes. Maybe he should start watching video. He got careless and got caught. I personally love seeing him cry and whine!
know matter how big a of a ass he is, no duobt every other perosn who felt that they could continue would have reacted the same.
Kos was out, the ref saw that and responded. The ref is there to protect fighters. If he stays out and gets hit two more times on the ground, there would be a completely different argument going on about not stopping the fight early enough.
I like Kos alot, but the one thing that I’m starting to see a pattern with him is he’s getting real sloppy and wild on this feet. Look back at the T. Alves fight and the P. Thiago fight. Yes his stand-up has improved by leaps and bounds but he keeps going for the Homerun KO and he’s getting caught with big shots along the way. He’s hoping for the same results as the Yoshida fight but if he wants to be a contender again, he needs to slow things down and start picking his opponents apart with his stand and use that to set-up his takedowns. Then bring the GNP to finish or control the opponent. Fight to your strengths, like he displayed in the Lytle fight. He was dominant and put on a great show that night. Look at GSP & T Alves, both are patient and well rounded fighters that do the same thing, their not out of control, swing for the fences fighters.
If Kos continues to use this out of control “swing for the fences” fight style, then he needs to accept the consequences of his actions and accept the fact that yes it might land him a highlight film KO but he could also be on the other end of a high light film KO per the P. Thiago fight. This will be the difference of him being a gatekeeper or a contender.
The choice is yours Kos
Good comment
well put.
Kos-Rumble at UFC 98. Make it happen!
I like that match up.
Sounds good.
Me thinks you’re on to something. Very good match-up.
mee too…or Hardy but it sounds as though Hardy is on Davis’ dance card
I posed that question a few comments up. You guys think smart. I’d love to see this fight, and I think it will happen.
Might not like him but got to respect him.
I dont gotta respect that FCUKER!!!
why?
I really don’t know anything about him. To be honest with you, I don’t even know what he looks like. I’ve never seen video on him, nothing. For me, it’s a fight. I expect to go in there and fight and just do what I do, which is win. – Josh Koscheck
MMAmania poste that quoted about 2 weeks ago. Sure doesnt sound to me like he trained like he was fighting the #1 contender
he says he never watches tape on any of his oppenent, he says he goes and trains and lets his trainers watch the tape and put together the game plan
Who cares if he watches tape on his opponents. Some fighters watch film, some don’t, thats why he has trainers & coaches, thats what they get paid to do. They come up with the plan and he’s supposed to execute it. Unfortunately who would have thought he would have got caught with a lucky upper cut. Its not like we was getting dominated up until that point. He was kicking P. Thiago’s a$$.
I never liked Kos at all, but have to admit that he is starting to earn my respect. Who is he fighting at UFC 98?
intial rumors were karo, then karo decided to fight all hopped up on pain pills so who knows at this point.
The most impressive I’ve ever seen Kosheck was against Chris Lytle where he controlled him and delivered some of the most brutal ground and pound I’ve ever seen… Why the hell does he insist on standing and trying to land those overhand rights for 3 rounds when he’s capable of so much more… YES I know he knocked out Yoshida, but this is MMA and he is clearly not a naturally gifted striker. If he played to his strengths he would be a serious threat to the belt… Wrestling + GnP = Dominating Win… Standing + Throwing Bombs = Unpredictable Results… You do the maths Josh.
Totally agree. I don’t get it either. It’s like owning a Ferrari but you decide to take the Yugo to the track to race. WTF is he thinking??
I agree with you. He could be a great striker because he has decent power and he’s very quick, but he doesn’t throw straight punches. He doesn’t throw combos, example, set something up with a good straight jab. No he always throws that big looping overhand right. And yur right, he should have taken that little skinny dude down and worked his gnp.
Gaining a lot of respect for Kos; he’ll take any fight with anyone any time it seems, and he’s jumping right back in for another fight.
I agree. The guy takes a fight (against #1 contender) with 10 days notice, right before his scheduled fight only weeks later, then asks Joe Silva “who’s next”. Great work ethic, that I wish so many other fighters had. Respect for Kos.
ditto
I think the only reason this fight was controversial because Paulo Thiago didn’t jump on Koscheck like most UFC fighters do. Look at most of the other KOs in the UFC and most of them involve a guy taking an unnecessary punch or two after they go down. Thiago didn’t see the need to hit Koscheck again and the ref didn’t think he deserved that either. Had Thiago jumped on him and smashed him again once or twice nobody would be saying shit.
That fight was not like chuck vs rampage because when rampage hit him he was out. When he hit him the second time he woke up. As for Kos he got knocked down may have been dazed but his hands and feet were up ready for him to storm in. Which is odd that he didnt. Oh well he will be back. Kos wins that fight i guess 9 out of 10 times.. = )
never been a kos fan, but i definately respect his work ethic
wow, back again at ufc 98, you gotta respect that, k-os vs swick would be a good match up, take swick off ufc 99 and make this happen…
Kos is a great fighter. I wish that this fight wouldn’t have gone this way but that is how it goes. I hate to see my favorite fighters lose but I look forward to his next fight.
He got a little sloppy right at the end and he paid for it. Thiago basically landed one punch and it was the one that counted. I tell you right now if Herb Dean, Yamasaki, or Lavigne were reffing that fight Koscheck would have had a chance to recover that is for sure. Thiago would be kicking himself today like Herring was after he fought Nog. Since Thiago didn’t jump on him right away it would have given Kos more time to recover and with a more experienced ref that fight could have been different. We know after a big knock down like that Kos would have out pointed Thiago with his wrestling in rounds 2 and 3 to get the win.
As for whether or not I thought it was an early stoppage no I did not think it was. I don’t like to see these guys take unnecessary shots. As for when a fight should be stopped is not for me to decide as a fan and I think that the ref made a good decision. He was doing what he felt was best for Kos.
I do like Koschecks comments though he is taking this like a true fighter should. He knows he lost and accepts complete responsibility for it.
Paulo Thiago stood there and looked at him when kos fell down and was like waiting for ref to jump in, he didnt jump on kos or anything when he was on the ground,it was a crap call. Ref got played. When chuck got knocked out rampage jumped on him and hit him again there is a big difference. ref should have let them fight. these are trained fighters, they can take a hit. ref ruined a good fight
He needs to take things more seriously. He is human and can be beat. Fighting 3 times in 6 months is only good if you win more than you lose. He should realize that he can win every fight but only if he prepares and takes the fights seriously. I don’t know how he could have thought he was going to beat Alves with no time to prepare. This last fight is another example. He got caught and that could happen to anyone, but he just keeps throwing the same looping right and although he trains his striking, it doesn’t look like it is improving.
He should take a few months off, find out who his opponent is going to be and prepare a gameplan for that opponent. I used to hate this guy, but I like his willingness to fight anyone anytime. He just needs to prepare to fight anyone at anytime.
Shave his head and hes a lightweight! And retire BJ! Battle of the babies! UFC 101 “Cry baby Cry”.
Kos was out when he hit the floor but as Thiago came towards him you could clearly see Kos’s eyes re-focus on him as he put his hand and legs up to try and defend himself. I thought it was stopped early but the ref thought he was going to take undo damage and stopped it, Im ok with that. I hate to see a guy laying stiff on the matt and have a guy jump on him and hit him with 2/3 more shots……totally uncalled for. This is a brutal sport and I think the ref is just trying to protect the fighter in this case, no problem with that at all.
Kos,
If your name was Nog, the fight would have continued.
No cause Nog got knocked down by Mir and the fight was stopped early….. the refs should know better when its nog.
difference is nog never got a flash KO during his fights, he fell down quite a few times, but those weren’t flash KO’s, he was just hurt. His eyes were in the right place, Kos’s were not. PPL need to learn the difference, heath didn’t KO nog with that kick.
It’s really hard to say if the fight was stopped early or not. There’s no question Kos was out on his down to the mat, but he also definitely came back to when he his it.
But there’s also the fact that Thiago knew he was out, and didn’t go directly in for the kill afterward. Had he, I think he would have landed more shots.
The stoppage was probably right.
thing is, even everyone that is defending KOS say he was out before hitting the mat, and that is called flash KO. a flash KO means you lose the fight, it doesn’t matter if you hit the mat and come back from the KO. it’s in the rules ppl, flash KO= KO, which means you lose the fight. end of discussion
Well with that rule there are obviously huge grey area’s cause you see a ton of guys get KO’d hit the matt, recover quickly and the fight is still on. It cant be one gets the fight stopped quickly and the next guy gets a second to recover, this rule needs to be for everyone or scrap it all together. Very inconsistent!!!!!! even more than my golf game!!!!!!
hey man, it’s the referee’s job to make sure that doesn’t happen, just because it happened before and the referee didn’t catch it but they did catch it this time doesn’t mean Kos should have been allowed to continue. referees are human and they make mistakes too, me being a big football fan (what many call soccer) know this and accept it. it’s part of the game.
I wouldnt admitt to being a soccer fan out loud!!
funny, but more than half the world likes this sport, while basketball, (american)football, baseball and any other sport the majority of ppl couldn’t care less. get outside the box will you?
Word. rules are rules.
Knew he’d want a rematch.
What fans?
Thats what happens when you never see videos of your opponents…
“I could be like a lot of other people and cry about it for weeks and months and make a big deal about it, but it’s now when the true character and discipline of a person is tested…”
Holy Cr*p!! I’m actually starting to LIKE Kos. What’s next? I feel like the moon will fall from the sky and it will start raining mackerel and trout.
I hated the guy up until a couple of fights ago. Im liking him more and more becasue is aint a bitch like a good half of these guys are. He will fight anyone anytime, and If I were him I would probably feel burned about the stoppage as well, that said I was ok with the stoppage, he got rocked yo!!!!
I personally think Kos improves a lot every time he fights. He was completely dominating this fight and would have eventually gotten the knock out, If he continues to train hard, and keeps doing what he’s doing I think he could be the #1 contender again pretty soon. His stand up is getting so damn explosive… it’s sloppy, but the raw power could knock anyone out.
He could easily be the #1 contender, to bad he got lazy in this fight and took the Uppercut. Dam talk about momentum killer.
he was definetly wasnt gunna be #1 contender jsut because he knocked out sum asian with one ufc win
That wasnt just some Asian dude!!!!
pffft he was fucking out of it even for 5 econds after the fight then he came too and started freaking out he got fucked up …fuck em
Koscheck got caught plain and simple. Is he better than the guy he fought?.. obviously, the guy had matt hughes level stand up and this was his first t(ko) hes a bjj fighter. Same with the first gsp/serra fight gsp is obviously the better striker and that was serra’s only t(ko) ever. The better striker doesn’t always win, thiago was better that night but I agree with what someone said eariler if they fought 10 times that would be the only time he would win.
Upsets are part of the sport, embarrassing losses are part of it too, now koscheck knows how it feels like gsp,penn,chuck etc etc. Its hard to believe that some shitty striker ko’s koscheck when kos survived 3 rounds with alves and gsp, weird shit. This call is controversial because it falls into what I call the grey area. He obviously wasn’t lying on the mat like a dead body, but was obviously in trouble and didn’t look like he could defend himself, the ref had to make a quick judgement call and it is what it is. I personally don’t think koscheck would have survived a couple hard shots and it would have been stopped anyways, but we’ll never know for sure.
Regardless of what koscheck says I think he got sloppy, saw the guy had shitty stand up and over comitted his punches with little fear of getting caught. He survived with alves what could this pathetic striker do to him and then bam, its all she wrote. One of the basic rules of martial arts is you MUST respect your opponets, gsp learned that the hard way, anderson silva knows this and so does fedor, the greats don’t fight with wild abandon like the chris lytles, davis, koschecks, swicks etc etc. Koscheck is a talented guy who isn’t a very smart fighter, is too cocky, doesn’t mix things up well, is always looking for the quick ko, since he got it last time I think that was all that was on his mind. I doubt he’ll ever be a champion and if he somehow wins it I doubt he’ll stay champ for long.
Good luck KOS! Good that KOOS doesn’t give a f**k about the haters,He just does his job and that’s it.We(KOS fans) are always with him no matter what.
I didn’t see any problems at all with the stoppage, Kos should just learn from it and be glad the ref spared him from taking more damage. As much as I’d like to see someone knock him out cold, he really ought to be careful what he asks for.
I don’t understand all you guys saying koscheck’s great because he fights so often
IMO hi’s dumb, he should prepare better for his fights otherwise he will become gatekeeper in his division
There is reason why you don’t see guys like GSP, A Sylvia, Fedor fighting so often, they all understand need for proper training for specific opponent
If he will fight again at UFC 98 he might lose again and knowing his not Dana favorite he might be dropped by UFC
Also when you fighting so often you getting guys who you not supposed to fight I mean why would Koscheck take a fight with newcomer there was nothing for him to win unless hi truly is a gatekeeper