Koscheck Has Different Approach for Alves Than Hughes

Though he has under two weeks to prepare, Josh Koscheck knows what course he won’t be taking in his welterweight bout against Thiago Alves at UFC 90 “Silva vs. Cote” in Rosemont, Ill.

“That was a bad strategy by Matt Hughes,” Koscheck said of the former champion’s June tussle with Alves in a teleconference Thursday. “I didn’t know what he was doing in that fight. It was probably one of the worst strategies in UFC history, in my opinion.”

Hughes, a two-time UFC welterweight champion with seven title defenses to his name, charged and collided with an Alves knee in the second round at UFC 85 “Bedlam” on June 7 in London. The Illinois wrestler had more than held his own with the 25-year-old Alves in the first round.

The upset victory has become the American Top Team protégé’s calling card of late though, topping Alves’ impressive second-round TKO of Karo Parisyan last April. The Brazilian has strung together six victories in the Octagon since October 2006, with the last five of them TKO or KO nods. The man nicknamed “The Pitbull” has been on a tear.

Koscheck (11-2), who was short on the details of his own game plan for Alves (15-3) before showtime, agreed to step into the co-headlining bout on Monday for an injured Diego Sanchez. Already training for a Dec. 10 tilt against Japanese judo prospect Yoshiyuki Yoshida, the four-time Div. 1 All-American wrestler said he didn’t skip a beat with the last-minute offer which could very well leapfrog him over Sanchez in the contenders’ line.

“I actually had a feeling a month, a month and a half ago, that one of those two could possibly get hurt and I’ve been in the gym training really hard for my upcoming fight in December,” said Koscheck. “I just had to change a couple of things in the last week, but that’s it.”

Koscheck said he’s returned to his wrestling roots in recent months, but was hesitant to be compared to Hughes or Alves on the mats.

“I have way better wrestling than those guys,” he said.

The 30-year-old American Kickboxing Academy fighter is arguably the most improved fighter to come out of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality TV series, and has developed a growing arsenal of standup skills to round out his formidable wrestling base and general athleticism.

Koscheck rematched Sanchez at UFC 69 in April 2007 and outpointed the fellow wrestler in a toe-to-toe showdown. Besides the hiccup that followed to now UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 74 the following August, Koscheck has been dominant in his last two victories over jiu-jitsu ace Dustin Hazelett and the steady Chris Lytle.

“I felt like me and [Alves] should have been fighting in the first place, but I don’t make those decisions,” he said. “There obviously must have been someone up there that didn’t want to fight or the UFC makes the decision.”

Alves, who professed to walking into the cage at 195-200 pounds come fight time, is one of the heftier welterweights in the division. Koscheck said he won’t be far behind at 187 pounds.

“I’ve fought bigger guys than him,” said Koscheck. “Hazelett was 6-foot-2. He’s a monster. Georges St. Pierre is obviously a big 170-pounder.”

And if confidence is any indication, Koscheck is as sure a bet as any fighter gracing the Oct. 25 card, two week’s notice or not.

“It’s a short-notice fight for him too and he has a lot to prepare for,” said Koscheck. “I’m not Diego Sanchez. He’s fighting Josh Koscheck. I’m a lot better than Diego Sanchez. I pose a lot of threats in the cage, and he’s got only two weeks to prepare for me. That’s the way I look at it.”