Before his upcoming fight with Chris Lytle, Josh Koshceck admitted he has been dreaming of BJ Penn and the possibility of dropping to 155 lbs. to challenge him for his belt.
Little did I realize when watching BJ Penn beat Matt Hughes in their first fight, that the "Prodigy" had prepared for his match against Hughes by training with the Division I NCAA wrestler Josh Koscheck, who was still a college student at the time.
Josh stated "I love BJ Penn to death." Then admitted to having a dream of fighting him for a chance to win the Lightweight Championship belt.
"I want to win a title at 155, 170, or 185," admits Koscheck, and he will go up or down a weight class to do it.
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Having been a four time Division I NCAA champ, Koscheck is well versed in the techniques to use to drop down a weight class without sacrificing his strength.
Although he considers BJ Penn a close friend, that does not preclude him from challenging him for the belt.
Apparently, this is something BJ has considered too.
When asked if he would fight one of his friends or former training buddies BJ remarked that he has been aware that it could happen someday, and he would not be adverse to taking such a fight. Indeed he would welcome it.
Many different fighters have been invited to train with BJ in the Hawaiian Paradise he calls home; most currently Uriah Faber the 145 lbs. championship belt holder who just defeated BJ's old nemesis, Jens Pulver, to defend his title.
Even though Koscheck is ready for Penn, BJ is hoping his next fight will be the winner of the Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch fight. Penn will go up to 170 lbs. for the fight and has his eye set on being an owner of two belts simultaneously if he can accomplish the feat of knocking off the belt's holder.
So Koscheck may have a little longer to dream of meeting the "Prodigy" in the octagon.
At the same time, he needs to win his fight against Chris Lytle first if he indeed wants to put this baby to bed.
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about 1 month ago
Koscheck vs Penn has been one of my dream fights for a while. But that was at 170, not 155. At either weight class this would be a great fight. I definitely didn't have any idea that Penn had trained with Koscheck in the past and also never really considered Koscheck as a threat to move to 155 like I had Sanchez. Very cool.
from about 1 month ago
Interestingly enough, if BJ goes up to 170 and does win the belt he will be in Kscheck's backyard. Do you think Kos could make 155 without sacrificing muscle? I am not as sure he can as he seems to be. I too was shocked by the news.
about 1 month ago
BJ Penn isnt fighting GSP or Fitch, he is fighting the winner of the Florian vs Huerta fight. Those two fighters have been doing very well and both deserve a title shot now, especially Huerta who is 22-1.
Taking away that opportunity for the title from both those fighters would just be a big fuck you to the lightweight division.
from about 1 month ago
If he is holding both titles he would have to defend both titles. I wish Huerta wouldn't have pulled off the lucky knee against Clay Guida then everyone would see that he is mid level at best.
from about 1 month ago
CJ you're so totally wrong. Florian and Huerta haven't beat anyone worthwhile. The best win between the two is probably Clay Guida, and Huerta was losing that fight all the way until he connected with a knee (I wouldn't call it 'lucky') that rocked Guida and led to the win; the point is he was losing the fight. Both of them aren't BJ Penn calibur and it SHOULD NOT be a given that the winner gets the title shot. It would make more sense for BJ to fight the GSP/Fitch winner while the lightweight division finds a true no. 1 contender. Florian/Huerta winner should fight a guy like Tyson Griffin for the no. 1 contender spot in prep for when BJ returns to 155. Meanwhile I hope they set up a Maynard/Sherk fight and hope that Maynard wins; that way Maynard can move quickly up the ranks to an eventual title shot himself.
about 1 month ago
The first time I wrote this article, before it mysteriously disappeared into cyberspace, it was a longer article mentioning how unhappy Dana is that he cannot convince BJ to do as he says and stay put to clean out the LW division.
Also, Josh has not discussed his wish to go down to fight BJ with Dana either.
about 1 month ago
Koscheck won tonight via decision over Chris Lytle although he did get booed for dodging him the last minute or so of the third round. Lytle showed some major guts in that fight as he was a bloody mess after round two.
from about 1 month ago
I am more inclined to be a Chris Lytle fan than ever now. What a show of guts and determination he showed. Awesome fight.
from about 1 month ago
Koscheck got booed for being boring. Except for a few little bursts that cut Lytle, he did his normal bull charge and lay style. Everyone bragged him up saying he was so much more exciting and he could really throw leather...I saw him throw a punch in the second round that I kinda agree now he can throw...if you watch it again in the second round Koscheck throws a punch yeah 1. And it was reminiscent of his old 3 year old girl punching style.
about 1 month ago
BJ Penn isnt a godly fighter, both Huerta and Florian have a very good chance at beating him. The only spectacular thing I can say about Penn is that he is probably THE best BJJ fighter I have ever seen.
Personally I think if he tries to stand with Huerta or Florian, he would get knocked out, Penn's stand up game is pretty much crap, he couldnt even knock out a Sherk who is a 3rd rate striker.
from about 1 month ago
Right now I agree with you on BJ Penn, but since he is planning on going to 170 to fight the winner of Fitch v St. Pierre we may never know about how he would fare against Ken Flo and/or Huerta. BJ is driving Dana nuts with his focus being on holding two belts simultaneously. Who knows what will happen next.
from about 1 month ago
In his fight with GSP, Penn destroyed him the first round on his feet. I guess it's because you think Huerta is something great, even though he really isn't. In his only big fight he pulled a knee out of his ass to beat Guida.
about 1 month ago
Penn didnt destroy GSP are you nuts? He broke the nose that was it, the rest of the fight went GSPs way the entire time then afterwards.
from about 1 month ago
And don't forget the "accidental eye gouge" that had Gsp seeing double, so he couldn't tell which BJ to hit.
about 1 month ago
Good article.
Unfortunately GSP is a freak at 170. I like Penn but he knew he had to go down to get a belt he could hold on to, and I dont see him coming back.
from about 1 month ago
Hey, I love your opinion on BJ, you are my kind of fan.
about 1 month ago
To Jason.
Obviously you havent seen many Huerta fights.
I dont know that El Matador can beat Penn. I think Penn gets to the ground and dominates but I also can see Huerta knocking Penn out.
from about 1 month ago
I love watching Huerta fight and pull victory from the jaws of defeat at the very last minute! He can only have gotten better by training with Georges at Greg Jacksons place. But it looks like BJ will be ducking out on the winner of the Ken-Flo - Huerta fight by going up to 170 in search of GSP's belt, assuming Georges bests Fitch, of course.
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