UFC 143 Results: Josh Koscheck Survives Battle with Mike Pierce

Love him or hate him, Josh Koscheck is a winner, but he had his hands full with Mike Pierce at UFC 143 on Saturday night.

A tough opponent for anyone, Mike Pierce called out Koscheck and asked the brass at the UFC to give him a shot at the former ‘Ultimate Fighter’ season 1 competitor.

His wish was granted and he showed up in a big way when he met Koscheck in the Octagon.

Pierce established a stiff jab as soon as the fight started, paying attention to Koscheck’s past fights with Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes, who gave him trouble with the straight punch.

It took time for Koscheck to get his bearings back, but he did a good job of moving to the side and looking for the takedown to throw Pierce off his game. When he commits to it, Koscheck still has one of the quickest and most effective double leg takedowns in the game, and it worked to his favor against Pierce.

What came back to bite Koscheck a couple of times however is his propensity to put his lead hand out to judge for distance, but because he leaves his hand open, he repeatedly poked Pierce in the eye.

After a couple instances, referee Herb Dean warned him to stop it or he was going to lose points. Lucky for Koscheck, it was deep into the third round by that point and it didn’t end up costing him anything.

A close fight throughout, the judges were just as indecisive about a winner. Two judges gave Koscheck the nod, while the third gave Pierce the win. It only takes two however and Josh Koscheck was given the win by split decision.

As the scores were read, a rain of boos fell down upon Koscheck from the Las Vegas crowd. He responded with a middle finger of his own, and invited the crowd to boo him all they wanted.

“You guys boo me all the time, I’m the most hated guy in MMA. Guess what? Deal with it. I win, I find a way to win,” said Koscheck.

Fighting Mike Pierce may not have been the match-up that Koscheck was looking for, but he definitely had his hands full.

“Mike Pierce is a tough guy. I knew that coming into this fight,” Koscheck said.

Koscheck is now 2-0 since returning from the orbital injury suffered in his title fight against Georges St-Pierre in 2010. With the Canadian sidelined until late 2012, Koscheck may be able to get back into the title hunt after the fight between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit.

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