Interview: Josh "KOS" Koscheck

By George Martinez

Hello we are here with the 42-0 NCAA Division I National Champion in the 174-pound weight class. Koscheck was a four-time Division I All-American (4th, 2nd, 1st, and 3rd) and a four-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Champion to become only the 11th four-time PSAC champion. He was honored as the PSAC Wrestler of the Year three times and was twice named the Eastern Wrestling League Wrestler of the Year. He has 6 wins and 1 lost in UFC. His one lost came in the last 20 seconds of a fight that he was dominating.

NewMexicomma- Hello Josh
Josh Koscheck- Hello

NewMexicomma- So your doing a training camp?
Josh Koscheck- That is it Training.

NewMexicomma- Training Hard?
Josh Koscheck- Just Training.

NewMexicomma- lol. So how is the training going?
Josh Koscheck- Training is well you know. I have a lot of good training partners. Fitch is getting ready to fight in UFC 68. So we are gearing him up right now for training so he ready to go, so that means I have to be in shape to go with him and train with him. Mike Swick, you know I have endless guys at American Kickbox Academy in San Jose.

NewMexicomma- Wow thats Great man. That's cool so your next fight is against Diego man. That's gonna be a good one. You've been waiting for that one for a while?
Josh Koscheck- Ah Yeah, Yeah know I've been waiting for that fight for a while. Just another fight for me. I really don't give two shits about it. It's what ever. I am training to fight, every fights important.

NewMexicomma- Shit, You guys had a good fight last time and you were new to the sport. So now I am interested in that one.
Josh Koscheck- Yeah, It should be an interesting fight. I am pretty excited about it.

NewMexicomma- That's good. I also heard that you got casted for a new movie. How's That going?
Josh Koscheck- Yeah, On my free time I just work on my lines, hang out and just basically you know get my mind were it needs to be for my next training session. It should be a good movie, it's called Never Submit. It should be fun. I pretty excited about the opportunity to get my foot in the door in some acting. I think I could have a pretty good future in that.

NewMexicomma- That's Great. So how old were you when you First started Wrestling?
Josh Koscheck- I started wrestling when I was about five years old.

NewMexicomma- Wow
Josh Koscheck- Yeah right around that range. In Western Pennsylvania. Where it like High School Wrestling and High School Football. If you don't like them you in the wrong neck of the woods. It's Just born in ya. Basically I was born to be a Wrestler and a Football player. So being from Western Pennsylvania ya know that's just the heart of Wrestling. It's probably where Wrestling was invented.

NewMexicomma- Yeah, Shit You could tell too, Because I love the take downs. You make them look so easy. Ya know. lol
Josh Koscheck- Well, when you've been doing something for over 25 years. Ya know it becomes pretty natural for you.

NewMexicomma- Yeah, because when I train it's kind of hard for me. Those are probably the hardest, but you make them look easy.
Josh Koscheck- Thank You

NewMexicomma- So when you fought Drew Fickett, You dominated the whole fight and lost it in the last 20 seconds. How was your mindset getting back to training after that fight? Was it harder or easier to train?
Josh Koscheck- The Fickett fight was nothing ya know, It's what it is. I lost many times in Wrestling and I probably gonna lose again in Ultimate Fighting. It's how it is, You win some and you lose some. And to go back and train it wasn't hard for me. I'm always in the gym. I live in the gym ya know, I don't take anytime off basically. I'm in the gym 365 days a year when I'm not fighting. So for me I never take time off, so it didn't change anything with me. I'm in the gym regardless ya know. Winning or losing I'm in the gym. I'm a Professional Athlete and I wanna be good at what I do. I want to go out there and entertain and put on a show. In order for me to do that I gotta be in the gym ya know. Just like someone going to work. People go to work everyday of the week, so why shouldn't I go to work everyday.

NewMexicomma- Lol, Yeah Exactly. Do you feel that being from a Wrestling back ground, Did it make it easier to make the transition into M.M.A.
Josh Koscheck- Oh absolutely, Ya know. Wrestling is the key ingredient. You always have the ability to control where the fight goes and 90% of the time the fight ends up on the ground. You wanna be the guy on top, you don't wanna be the guy on bottom. It's similar in the fact that the cardio is the same and similar training as in wrestling. It's a perfect starter sport. If some is interested in getting into Mixed Martial Arts, UFC. It's a perfect base to have, to develop into a true mixed martial artist.

NewMexicomma- Oh Great! Weren't you suppose to wrestle in the Olympics?
Josh Koscheck- I was training for the Olympics. To make the Olympic team in the US is almost like winning the gold medal. It's very very difficult. Because the wrestling competition is very very stiff and it's very hard to get on the Olympic team in the United States. I was training for that , it was my goal and then I discovered Mixed Martial Arts, the UFC. Dana White called me and I started train and fighting. Got on the reality TV show and from there I became a full time fighter. The thing about wrestling is that there is no money in the sport and I wanna be in a sport where there is potential to make a lot of money. I am in this sport to make money and that's why I am training every single day. That's why I want to fight the best guys.

NewMexicomma- So how many fights do you think that you are away from a title shot?
Josh Koscheck- Right now I am only focused on one fight and that's my next fight. I never look ahead and I never look in the past. Because you can't change any of those. If you get caught looking ahead, your gonna miss the opportunities that you have right now. So right now I am just focus on the next couple of weeks of training to prepare myself for April 7th.

NewMexicomma- Nice! Did you bring in anybody extra to help you get ready for Diego?
Josh Koscheck- No, I got my same crew around me. I did add a Muay Thai coach to the batch. I see him 2 days a week and other than that nothing new and I had the Muay Thai coach for about 6 months. I had him prier to Diego.

NewMexicomma- Cool Man, That's all I got for you. Thanks a lot for doing the interview, because Diego didn't want to do it (I tried to contact Diego for 4 months for interview).
Josh Koscheck- That's another thing. That just tells you the type of person he is. That he wouldn't take the time out of his day to fucken do an interview for his Home fucken State. That's pretty pathetic ya know. So that tells you and it tells the fans that he's a real "Cocksucker" and he has no respect for his fans, and no respect for people like yourself, and websites like yourself. Yeah that's the way I look at it. You could even put that right in the fucken interview. I would appreciate it if you would put that in the interview.

NewMexicomma- I will put it in for sure. Thanks, and I know you like to fly fish. So if you are ever in New Mexico man give me a call and I will take you out on the San Juan.
Josh Koscheck- Oh, Yeah I would Love that.

NewMexicomma- Cool Josh, Thanks a lot, good luck, and stay healthy. Thanks
Josh Koscheck- Alright Appreciate it. Thank you!

(Source)