He never wanted to hear about him again. That's what Georges St. Pierre said before his UFC 124 match against Josh Koscheck. After Koscheck, stood in front of him for 20-plus minutes with a broken orbital bone, St. Pierre admitted he may have to fight him again down the road.
"I've said in an interview before the fight, he's gonna be done and we're never going to fight each other again," St. Pierre said as he smiled during the UFC 124 postfight press conference.
"He's very tough and the performance he did tonight, he's a top welterweight. Maybe I talk too fast. Maybe in a few years, maybe he's going to come back."
Don't scoff. It could happen.
Koscheck (15-5, 13-5 UFC) isn't going anywhere. His only losses in the UFC have come against St. Pierre (twice), Thiago Alves and two upsets at the hands of Paulo Thiago and Drew Fickett. The 33-year-old will be a mainstay in the UFC's top five at 170 pounds.
The question comes with St. Pierre and his willingness to eventually leave the division.
GSP said he weighs 190-192 between fights and that's not big enough to fight 185 pounds. He wants to get to 200 pounds before considering a fight with UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva. St. Pierre also said if he moves to 185, the switch will be permanent. He has no interest in bouncing between weight divisions.
If he doesn't move to middleweight or gets destroyed by Silva down the road, one has to wonder what the UFC will do if Koscheck is the No. 1 contender again around say, UFC 159.
Sounds like St. Pierre may not like Koscheck as person, but he knows that he's a necessary evil.
"At the end of the night, it's only a fight," St. Pierre said of all prefight trash talk by Koscheck. "I need Josh Koscheck to do what I do for a living. If Josh Koscheck would not have been there tonight. I would not be able to make money and you guys would not have a good night of entertaining. We need good guy, we need bad guy. It's nothing personal at the end of the day, it's a business."
Koscheck may be a dick as Dana White calls him, but he is good for the sport. He also showed amazing heart, fighting with a broken orbital for 20-plus minutes.
What happens if Koscheck doesn't suffer the gruesome injury in the first round? What if he actually tried to use his wrestling and score some takedowns? Koscheck was the first guy in a long time that St. Pierre had trouble taking down and settling on the ground. If Koscheck rolls through Alves, B.J. Penn, Carlos Condit and Jake Shields, he won't deserve a third crack at GSP? We'll see.
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