Josh Koscheck is rumored to be fighting Anthony Johnson at UFC 106.
Josh Koscheck announced through Twitter last night that he would be fighting on the UFC 106 card.
MMA Junkie is reporting that the Koscheck’s opponent will be Anthony Johnson.
Koscheck is no stranger to taking a big name fight on short notice. He replaced Diego Sanchez in a fight against Thiago Alves, which he lost. Koscheck is attempting to work his way back up the welterweight ladder.
Koscheck has gone 2-2 with losses to Paulo Thiago and Alves. He is coming off of a victory against Frank Trigg at UFC 103.
Johnson is coming off of a knockout victory over Yoshiyuki Yoshida, but he missed out on Knockout of the Night bonus because he came in six pounds over the weight limit. Johnson said an injury prevented him from making the complete cut to 170.
A win over Koscheck would move Johnson closer to a potential title shot at UFC welterweight champion Josh Koscheck.
Good match up. I see johnson taking it hes a much better striker and his wrestling is outstanding. I think kos is outsized in this match and doesnt have the reach. Not to mention johnsons kicking game. Johnson by first round ko/tko
you’re probably right but damn, this is gonna be a hell of a fight!!! This is the real main event without the name recognition
San Jose is all fired up because they are out of the 2 big San Jose camps. I can’t wait.
I don’t know that Rumble Johnson has a better striking game than Koshcheck. Koshcheck has been top five for a long time now, and Rumble is just starting to emerge as a contender. What evidence is there to say Rumble has a better striking game, let alone better kicks? Koshcheck brutally KOd Yoshida well before Johnson did. He’s also KOd Dustin Hazelett with a head kick, well before Johnson KOd Kevin Burns with one. They both have their fair share of KOs, and they both have KO power with their hands and feet. However, Koshcheck has undoubtedly faced the stiffer competition up to this point. Who are the best guys Rumble has faced? Luigi Fioravanti and Rich Clementi-who toyed with him on the ground and choked him out. So, Koscheck gets caught by Paulo Thiago and beat up by a monstrous Thiago Alves and all of the sudden he doesn’t have a striking game? I don’t know if thtat’s a good way to look at it. Rumble can swing, but he hasn’t ever fought a guy like Koscheck, this is a huge step up.
The other factor is one I already briefly mentioned. They are both great wrestlers, but Koscheck is an excellent, top-notch collegiate wrestler. And Rubmle is no GSP, that’s for damn sure. If Koscheck can put Johnson on his back, Rumble is in trouble. Kos has been in good hands with Dave Camarillo, and he’s got better submission skills than we’ve seen in the UFC. Rumble has got reach, but if Josh gets inside and takes him down, I think the fight will immediately take a huge turn in Josh’s favor. Not to mention gas tank. Josh is obviously very well-conditioned, meanwhile Rumble can’t even make weight. He came in SEVEN POUNDS OVER against Yoshida. And one last point: That fight was LAST WEEKEND. Now Johnson is fighting Koscheck at 106? I don;t know if that is the smartest move on his part. Sure, he didn’t take any damage against Yoshida, but we’re talking about him going from bottom to mid-level fighter to a top five wekterweight in Josh Koscheck.
I like Rumble, he’s obviously really talented and has great gifts, but I don’t think this fight is nearly so bkack and white as “Johnson has heavy hands and long arms, he’s going to KO Koscheck. Koscheck has the game to beat Johnson anywhere in the fight. I’m not saying he will, just that I won’t at all vbe surprised if he does, and I see him being a favorite in this fight. Again, I wouldn’t be too surprised if Johnson KO’s Koscheck either, but it’s a good match-up and pretty even, at least as far as the stand-up game is concerned.
Its the way johnson strikes. I agree kos has good strikes but johnson looks cleaner and more comfortable on his feet. Not to mention the reach advantage and the fact johnson is a wrestler base fighter. Not to mention I seem to remember kos getting KO by paulo thiago. thiago wasnet known for his striking and honestly wasent doing that great up till he caught kos. Johnson seems to be a very comfortable striker with long reach. Thats hard to deal with trust me. Either way this will be a great fight
id say it has earned the right for co-main event.these 2 guys are both yound and could easily fight for the title.koscheck was worthy of fighting gsp once before.if rumble ko’s koscheck he may get a title shot. depending on the swick vs hardy fight.
i see rumble wearing the belt at some time.
Maybe when Georges retires…
Anthony Johnson certainly looks like a formidable opponent for GSP at this point, but if he were to fight Georges after the Kos dfight, he’d get brutalized. No one seems to be able to top St. Pierre’s takedowns, why would Anthony Johnson be any different?
height and speed and strength is 3 good reasons he can stop the takedowns.
and a very hard punch to georges skull may help things.
A very hard punch will definately make the difference. But strength and speed didn’t help Alves…
rumble is bigger and faster than alves.
Did you see the size difference between Rumble and Yoshida!? Rumbles proper home is 185 without a doubt!!!
I agree with you there Daley, there’s no argument about that. But GSP is also bigger than Yoshida. He’s definately no Rumble, but he’s pretty big himself, and he’s probably going to work on getting bigger with all of these hungry up-and-comers like Rumble and Alves being so big. But the difference in this fight is that if GSP puts Anthony Johnson on his back, Johnson is gonna get hustled, there’s no two ways about it. He got choked out by Rich Clementi not all that long ago. Not only is GSP a beast wrestler, his BJJ chops have come leaps and bounds. Let’s not forget he was the first guy in MMA history to pass Jon Fitch’s guard.
if rumble gets put on his back against gsp i am with you for sure,he wont last 90 seconds.it will all go down to on the feet and grappling,thats where i think rumbles size reach,speed and power will come into play