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Why Josh Koscheck will beat GSP according to Fiveouncesofpain.com
I think Caplan some good points and think with this fight the same thing that happened with Serra/GSP, and the Sanchez/Koscheck fight. I like his take and figured it could make for a good discussion.
Source:Why Josh Koscheck will beat Georges St. Pierre « Five Ounces of Pain!
Why Josh Koscheck will beat Georges St. Pierre
August 9th, 2007 by Sam Caplan
The headline says it all.
I am picking Josh Koscheck to defeat Georges St. Pierre via second round TKO (ground and pound) at UFC 74.
There, I said it!
I want to clarify before I go into my dissertation that I’m not a pro-Koscheck guy or an anti-St. Pierre guy, I’m just giving my unbiased opinion.
Take it or leave it.
But wait a minute, how unbiased am I?
For a long time I was a huge GSP fan. No, strike that, I was a MARK for GSP. However, my enthusiasm has waned somewhat out of fear that he could be the Fredo Corleone of the UFC’s welterweight division.
Prior to UFC 69, UFC president Dana White went into Don West-mode (pre-TNA wrestling) and gave us the hard sell on GSP, proclaiming him one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. I bought into it, and I know a lot of you did as well.
What happened in the months after UFC 69? White went from calling him one of the best in the world to publicly question his character! Dana didn’t hesitate to throw GSP under the bus, questioning his mental toughness while praising his athletic abilities.
Apparently GSP didn’t take Matt Serra lightly before the fight. In fact, he was a little bit nervous. A little bit? Well okay, maybe he was having a near-panic attack.
But you can’t bury GSP for an isolated incident. Fighting is a brutal sport and if you’re not running through a gamut of emotions then you’re probably a cyborg. The problem is that during his UFC 58 fight against B.J. Penn, he nearly quit on the stool after the first round. The announcers never really addressed it but after watching years of boxing it was clear as day that his corner had to talk him into going out and fighting. It’s a good thing they were able to convince him because we all know how the fight turned out.
So what if this is a trend and what if GSP doesn’t have the mental toughness needed to reach his full physical potential?
If he was nervous for Serra then don’t you think he might be scared shitless of Koscheck, a fighter who has an inane ability of making good fighters look bad?
GSP is a good wrestler with good submissions but his greatest strength is his striking. The concern is that Koscheck is essentially the old New Jersey Devils of the UFC.
The Devils utilized the trap as a way to neutralize an opposing team’s skating ability and bring their offense to a screeching halt. The end result was usually some very boring hockey. When Koscheck hits one of his shots and gets a fighter on their back, it’s the same idea.
The key in this fight won’t be whether Koscheck can execute a shot and take GSP down. The key will be how much his ground and pound has improved. Once he gets GSP on the ground he needs to get to work. Working submissions will be tough because Koscheck hasn’t been taking Jiu-Jitsu long enough to tap out an experienced grappler like GSP. But if he can throw strikes from inside the guard then it will help him break guard and move into the mount.
He’ll not only score points, but he’ll break St. Pierre.
From my limited experience in fighting, nothing is more demoralizing then having someone pounding your face with fists and elbows while you’re flat on your back. It’s a real helpless feeling and I’ve found myself actually wanting to call timeout when I’ve been in that situation. I mean, what can you do when your opponent is “making it rain?”
For GSP, the gameplan is simple: don’t let Koscheck take him down!
After technique, athleticism is the most essential part of having good takedown defense and GSP has athletic ability to spare. But Koscheck will be relentless in going for attempt after attempt. The tricky part is that his striking has improved enough that he can now set up his shots. GSP is going to have to keep things honest and that could open the door for Koscheck. One takedown might be all Koscheck needs if he’s been working on his elbows and fists from inside the guard.
If Koscheck doesn’t stay busy then he’s going to be wasting his time. Lay and pray isn’t going to get him a shot at the welterweight title.
Hell, it might not even be enough to get a decision.
If Koscheck doesn’t do any damage and GSP is able to provide some highlight reel strikes, he might get the benefit of the doubt from the judges. The crowd will also no doubt be behind GSP and that could also sway the judges (i.e. Cecil Peoples).
There are a lot of things that could go right for GSP in this fight but there are just so many things that could go wrong against Koscheck. And unless St. Pierre has been seeing a sports psychologist, Koscheck is the type of fighter whose style could prove frustrating and cause him to crack.
My belief is that Koscheck will hit at least one takedown and that will be GSP’s downfall.
Oh, and just for the record, I did not bet on GSP at UFC 69 so I’m not a disgruntled gambler. However, I do regret that I didn’t bet against him.
I think Caplan some good points and think with this fight the same thing that happened with Serra/GSP, and the Sanchez/Koscheck fight. I like his take and figured it could make for a good discussion.
Source:Why Josh Koscheck will beat Georges St. Pierre « Five Ounces of Pain!
Why Josh Koscheck will beat Georges St. Pierre
August 9th, 2007 by Sam Caplan
The headline says it all.
I am picking Josh Koscheck to defeat Georges St. Pierre via second round TKO (ground and pound) at UFC 74.
There, I said it!
I want to clarify before I go into my dissertation that I’m not a pro-Koscheck guy or an anti-St. Pierre guy, I’m just giving my unbiased opinion.
Take it or leave it.
But wait a minute, how unbiased am I?
For a long time I was a huge GSP fan. No, strike that, I was a MARK for GSP. However, my enthusiasm has waned somewhat out of fear that he could be the Fredo Corleone of the UFC’s welterweight division.
Prior to UFC 69, UFC president Dana White went into Don West-mode (pre-TNA wrestling) and gave us the hard sell on GSP, proclaiming him one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. I bought into it, and I know a lot of you did as well.
What happened in the months after UFC 69? White went from calling him one of the best in the world to publicly question his character! Dana didn’t hesitate to throw GSP under the bus, questioning his mental toughness while praising his athletic abilities.
Apparently GSP didn’t take Matt Serra lightly before the fight. In fact, he was a little bit nervous. A little bit? Well okay, maybe he was having a near-panic attack.
But you can’t bury GSP for an isolated incident. Fighting is a brutal sport and if you’re not running through a gamut of emotions then you’re probably a cyborg. The problem is that during his UFC 58 fight against B.J. Penn, he nearly quit on the stool after the first round. The announcers never really addressed it but after watching years of boxing it was clear as day that his corner had to talk him into going out and fighting. It’s a good thing they were able to convince him because we all know how the fight turned out.
So what if this is a trend and what if GSP doesn’t have the mental toughness needed to reach his full physical potential?
If he was nervous for Serra then don’t you think he might be scared shitless of Koscheck, a fighter who has an inane ability of making good fighters look bad?
GSP is a good wrestler with good submissions but his greatest strength is his striking. The concern is that Koscheck is essentially the old New Jersey Devils of the UFC.
The Devils utilized the trap as a way to neutralize an opposing team’s skating ability and bring their offense to a screeching halt. The end result was usually some very boring hockey. When Koscheck hits one of his shots and gets a fighter on their back, it’s the same idea.
The key in this fight won’t be whether Koscheck can execute a shot and take GSP down. The key will be how much his ground and pound has improved. Once he gets GSP on the ground he needs to get to work. Working submissions will be tough because Koscheck hasn’t been taking Jiu-Jitsu long enough to tap out an experienced grappler like GSP. But if he can throw strikes from inside the guard then it will help him break guard and move into the mount.
He’ll not only score points, but he’ll break St. Pierre.
From my limited experience in fighting, nothing is more demoralizing then having someone pounding your face with fists and elbows while you’re flat on your back. It’s a real helpless feeling and I’ve found myself actually wanting to call timeout when I’ve been in that situation. I mean, what can you do when your opponent is “making it rain?”
For GSP, the gameplan is simple: don’t let Koscheck take him down!
After technique, athleticism is the most essential part of having good takedown defense and GSP has athletic ability to spare. But Koscheck will be relentless in going for attempt after attempt. The tricky part is that his striking has improved enough that he can now set up his shots. GSP is going to have to keep things honest and that could open the door for Koscheck. One takedown might be all Koscheck needs if he’s been working on his elbows and fists from inside the guard.
If Koscheck doesn’t stay busy then he’s going to be wasting his time. Lay and pray isn’t going to get him a shot at the welterweight title.
Hell, it might not even be enough to get a decision.
If Koscheck doesn’t do any damage and GSP is able to provide some highlight reel strikes, he might get the benefit of the doubt from the judges. The crowd will also no doubt be behind GSP and that could also sway the judges (i.e. Cecil Peoples).
There are a lot of things that could go right for GSP in this fight but there are just so many things that could go wrong against Koscheck. And unless St. Pierre has been seeing a sports psychologist, Koscheck is the type of fighter whose style could prove frustrating and cause him to crack.
My belief is that Koscheck will hit at least one takedown and that will be GSP’s downfall.
Oh, and just for the record, I did not bet on GSP at UFC 69 so I’m not a disgruntled gambler. However, I do regret that I didn’t bet against him.
Looks like I have a second chance.
I think it will be a good fight either way. If Kos makes a mistake, George will probably capitalize on it and end the fight, but if George comes out and tries to dance around and not be aggressive, then I think Kos will GnP to a decision or knock him out.
I liked the comparison he used with the New Jersey Devils. It actually does fit very well for Koscheck. On the feet, I think GSP has the edge. Obviously if Koscheck can take the fight to the ground and drop some punches and elbows he'll win the fight but GSP did a very good job of avoiding the takedowns from Hughes in their 2nd fight. I just think GSP will come out better than his last fight against Serra, he won't be taking Kos lightly, and he'll light him up.
GSP will absolutely RUN through Josh Koscheck & make him look like an amateur... Why ? Simply because they are on different skill levels. The End by PUNISHMENT 101
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Last edited by Punishment 101 : 08-11-2007 at 06:56 PM.
Where does this assumption come from that Kos is so much better at grappling than GSP is? I've yet to see any evidence of that. Spout all the amateur wrestling credentials you want to, but I don't see how Koschek will be any more successful at handling a properly prepared St. Pierre than Matt Hughes did.
Hughes was still acknowledged at the time of his second fight with Georges to be an excellent wrestler and one of the very strongest fighters in the welterweight division. Yet his takedown attempts against GSP proved futile. St. Pierre's losses have been the result of gaffs on his part, first hanging his arm out for Hughes in a fight he was doing well in, then leaving himself open for the punch by Serra.
And unless he gaffs again, he's not gonna lay there with Kos on top of him and not do anything.
Does Koschek have a chance? Of course. If Serra-St. Pierre taught us anything, it's that anyone can win on any given night.
I truly believe this is Rush's fight to lose. If GSP comes in as the confident, composed fighter who manhandled Hughes, bullied Sherk and made Trigg look like a little girl, then ol' Kos is in trouble.
I agree that I think KOS is gonna win but not how Caplan thinks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IcemanCometh
GSP is a good wrestler with good submissions but his greatest strength is his striking. The concern is that Koscheck is essentially the old New Jersey Devils of the UFC.
GSP's greatest strength is his wrestling and although I'm sure KOS will take him down, I'm not so sure he will hold him there or avoid subs. KOS is going to keep it standing just like he did with Diego. I do think his stand up is much improved and some of you may hate him but the match up is not going to be as much a slaughter as you think.
Note: I don't like KOS or GSP. I just think KOS will win.
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"You must first believe if you are to achieve. That rhymed... unintentionally."
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When I read this:
"GSP is a good wrestler with good submissions but his greatest strength is his striking."
I stopped reading
Dude, I swear on everything holy that is EXACTLY what I was going to post. I even had that quote on my clipboard ready to paste. I stopped reading after that too.
"GSP is a good wrestler with good submissions but his greatest strength is his striking."
When I read this:
"GSP is a good wrestler with good submissions but his greatest strength is his striking."
I stopped reading
There were some good points in the article, but you're exactly right. That was a glaring error in the article, and once you come across something like that, it's really hard to believe the rest is valid. Either way, these are the same discussions that we've been having for weeks on GSP.
Why Josh Koscheck will beat GSP according to Fiveouncesofpain.com
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