Follow along with our live updates from GSP and Koscheck
“The Ultimate Fighter 12” is set to debut this week following “UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares”, and coaches Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck will be featured on today’s media call to discuss the season and their upcoming title fight.
Join Heavy.com at 3:45 p.m. ET for live notes and quotes from the media call.
3:46: Josh Koscheck takes the first question, saying that he is now training in Fresno, but will be training at American Kickboxing Academy for the majority of his camp. He then addresses his relationship with the Montreal natives. He jokes that the Montreal crowd is a fan of his.
3:50: Koscheck then says that Georges has been on top for a long time and that his time as the welterweight king is going to end this December.
3:52: St. Pierre jumps on the line, and Koscheck is quick to greet him. He questions, “Did you miss me (Georges)?”
3:53: “There’s no pressure on me,” states Koscheck, who believes St. Pierre is the one who has the all of the pressure on his shoulders. “I’m pumped for the opportunity.”
3:54: St. Pierre is asked about the similarities between Matt Hughes and Koscheck in terms of his experience with them during the filming of the reality series. The champion says he can’t control how Koscheck acts.
3:56: “I’m the villain coming into Montreal,” states Koscheck, who will be fighting St. Pierre in front of the very pro-GSP crowd in Montreal. He then says St. Pierre is very different in person than in the public eye.
3:59: Koscheck continues to explain how the venue does not matter. Says to St. Pierre that he will beat him no matter where they fight.
4:01: Koscheck feels that St. Pierre will not stand up with him and that it is his job to keep the fight on the feet if he wants to box against the champion. “Georges, I hope you’re working on your stand up,” says Koscheck. “I’m coming to make this a fight.”
4:02: St. Pierre calls Koscheck a “liar”, believes that the AKA product will look to take him down. Goes on to say that he is keeping his wrestling “sharp”.
4:04: Koscheck address “The Ultimate Fighter 12” and says there is not much coaching going on during the reality competition. Explains that it is more about strategy than coaching.
4:06: St. Pierre says that his coaching changed from fighter to fighter. Says that each guy was different and needed focus from the coaching staff in different areas.
4:08: Koscheck says that his time in “The Ultimate Fighter” house affected his view as a coach. He says Chuck Liddell was such a good example of a dominant mixed martial artist, and that he (Koscheck) wanted to give the guys this season an experience similar to the one he had. Also says it was an easy transition to come back as a coach.
4:10: St. Pierre is asked about Koscheck’s remarks on his stand up, to which the champion says that he is simply working on sharpening up every aspect of his game.
4:12: The inevitable and pertinent question of the recent criticism of wrestling is asked. Koscheck says this is mixed martial arts, not boxing. Explains that there are so many different aspects to MMA and that people that are not good at wrestling need to work on it, that good wrestlers need to work on striking.
4:15: Koscheck approached the show with the strategy to get them in good shape and help them compete and win. Says that they just trained them hard and kept them in shape. Also says that there are several fighters on this season that can be factors at some point in the UFC, but stresses that they need to join the right camps in order to succeed.
4:17: St. Pierre asked whether or not he will watch the show, or if he wants to avoid Koscheck’s trash talk. The Canadian states that he will be watching the show. Also says he is looking forward to watching Nate Marquardt and David Branch fight at “UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares”.
4:18: St. Pierre asked if he thinks this is a bad guy vs. good guy situation. He does not think that Koscheck is a bad person, and Koscheck says he really appreciates the champion sticking up for him. Says that he will send him a text message later and that they can cuddle. Awkward silence ensues.
4:20: St. Pierre says that he wanted to choose the guy he could help the most, not necessarily the best fighter. Koscheck says he just wanted to find guys that wanted to fight and had a lot of heart.
4:22: St. Pierre is asked about his training with Freddie Roach. He says that his skills are getting sharpened, but that it is a team effort.
4:23: The champion is asked about how he remains motivated after clearing out the division. St. Pierre says Koscheck is keeping him very motivated.
4:25: Koscheck is then asked about the incident after his victory over Paul Daley, says that he does not regret the things that he said to the crowd and that he does not hold anything against the crowd. He focuses on the positives, saying that he does not hold any animosity and is happy where he is at in life.
4:28: Koscheck asked about fighting Fitch if he should defeat St. Pierre. He says that he is done answering that question, which is hardly a surprising answer.
4:30: St. Pierre’s lack of trash talking is brought to the table, and he simply says he is not good at it. Says that his mentality as a martial artist is to be respectful.
4:31: Paul Daley is brought up again. “Look where I am now, and look where he’s at,” states Koscheck, who seems to genuinely not care about his former welterweight competitor.
4:32: Koscheck says that people hate him because he’s been “kicking everybody’s asses in the division”. If he was just an average fighter, he does not think he would be hated.
4:33: Damon Martin asks about any disappointment Koscheck may have had that the fight was not in Pittsburgh. Koscheck says that it isn’t his last fight and he still has time to fight in his hometown. Says it would be an honor.
4:35: St. Pierre says Koscheck’s slogan is “Love me, hate me, but don’t ignore me”. I don’t think Koscheck disagrees with that statement at all.
4:37: Koscheck explains that he tried to keep his guys focused on “the bigger picture” while living in a house with no forms of entertainment and a lot of tension.
4:39: The two are asked if they had any major confrontations on the show, but neither really address any specific moments. However, Koscheck says they are both professionals and realized they had a date already set for a fight, so they did not need to fight if they were not getting paid.
4:42: Koscheck asked if he was surprised when St. Pierre managed to take him down in their first match. Koscheck says that St. Pierre is just so athletic and that he is one of the best wrestlers in mixed martial arts.
4:44: St. Pierre says that wrestling is not the most important discipline in MMA. Says that being well-rounded is the most important thing.
4:46: St. Pierre hops off the call, but Koscheck agrees to stick around for a few more minutes.
4:48: Koscheck says that he is coming into this fight to put Georges to sleep, and that St. Pierre is just looking to outpoint him to keep the title.
4:50: The call wraps up with Koscheck saying that he will be tweeting during the first episode of “The Ultimate Fighter”. Check him out at www.twitter.com/joshkoscheck. Speaking of Twitter, you can check us out at www.twitter.com/HeavyMMA. Thanks for joining us.