Josh Koscheck won't concede retirement, but says 'there are bigger things in life'

Josh Koscheck and Jake Ellenberger

Longtime UFC welterweight Josh Koscheck said he is “pissed” and “borderline embarrassed” for what he calls a “stupid, amateur mistake” against Jake Ellenberger in his previous fight.

Koscheck, 37, was submitted via north-south choke at this past month’s UFC 184 – his fourth straight loss in the promotion’s octagon.

Yet despite the setback, and the fact that a short-notice fight Saturday at UFC Fight Night 62 is the last on a contract he’s said will be his last, he wouldn’t commit to the idea that the curtain is about to close on his career.

“You never know,” Koscheck (17-9 MMA, 15-9 UFC), who faces Erick Silva (17-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) in the co-headliner, today told MMAjunkie Radio. “As of right now, I live my life one day at a time, and I know there’s plenty of bigger things out there than just fighting and competing in the UFC. There’s plenty of bigger things in life out there that I have going on, so for me, I’m hungry for a victory.

“It’s been a long time, and I want to win this fight.”

Koscheck stepped up to replace an injured Ben Saunders (18-6-2 MMA, 6-3 UFC) at Maracanazinho Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro. (The fight airs on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on FOX Sports 2 and UFC Fight Pass.)

The onetime UFC welterweight title challenger said he would have taken the fight with Silva regardless of whether or not he’d lost at UFC 184. A 15-month layoff, which began with speculation he would retire following a KO loss to Tyron Woodley at UFC 167, motivated him to compete on a more consistent basis.

So when UFC President Dana White called him shortly after UFC 184, Koscheck said he jumped at the opportunity.

“Without a doubt, I would take this fight all day, every day,” he said. “If they called me next week and say, ‘Hey, you want to do a spinoff one-fight deal?,’ I’ll do it.

“I like to compete and I like to fight. I think as far as my skills, my boxing and everything, I’m at the best I’ve ever been. I’ve just got to go out there and let it go. Saturday night I plan on doing that.

“Not taking anything from (Jake Ellenberger), but I fight nine out of 10 times, I smash him. But that’s part of the game. He caught me, and I just think he was the better night because I made a mistake.”

Koscheck said he contemplated fouling Ellenberger to get out of the choke that eventually forced him to tap, but thought he would be able to escape. Replays of the sequence showed him dropping to the mat before hurling his body from side to side as Ellenberger adjusted his hold. The pressure was so intense Koscheck’s mouth began to foam before he submitted.

“I relaxed in that second period, and against the cage, I was in control of the fight, just trying to relax; just make Jake work out of there, out of the position we were in,” Koscheck remembers. “And he slapped on that choke, and it was tight as sh-t. At one point, I was like, man, do I hit him in the nuts to get out of this thing?

“I was thinking, ‘I could just crack him in the balls right now.’ And then I was like, ‘I’ll just keep fighting it.’ I made a mistake and it cost me the fight. You can’t let your guard down, and I let my guard down for a minute.”

Against Silva, who’s known as a wrecking ball early in his fights, Koscheck can’t make the same mistake twice. An early flurry of punches might cost him, but he pointed to the Brazilian’s inconsistency in the UFC’s octagon.

“I think he’s going to come to fight, and he usually goes and wins one and loses one, so on Saturday night, it’s his time to lose one,” Koscheck said. “Opportunities come – you’ve got to jump on them. I don’t get paid to just train in the gym. I’ve got to fight.

“This is the last fight on my contract, so we’ll see what happens come Saturday night. I plan on winning.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 62, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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