Josh Koscheck to Face Paulo Thiago at UFC 95

by Kid Nate on Jan 5, 2009 5:13 PM EST in Events Comment 33 comments

Here's a highlight reel of Paulo Thiago, the 7-0 (Tatame says 10-0) Brazilian who's being thrown in at the UFC deep end at UFC 95. He trains with Rani Yahya. Here's a quote from his coach via Tatame:

“We’re investing in his career for two years. Jungle Fight gave us a big chance and now we put him into UFC. Rani (Yahya) may only be back in March (at WEC), so the whole team is focused on his preparation. If he wins, maybe we’ll get the submission of the night bonuses”, celebrates Ataíde Junior, leader of the Constrictor Team.

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Is this Koscheck’s last fight in the UFC or has he reached a new agreement.

by tylerdurden1 on Jan 5, 2009 5:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

New deal.

This guy is going to get KO’ed bad.

by Michael Rome on Jan 5, 2009 5:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Are they trying to build koscheck up for some reason???

why is he fighting people way below his level?

Koscheck by pure domination Rd 1

by dbcb on Jan 5, 2009 5:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Hopefully Koscheck does not undertrain and overlook this fight. But Koscheck by pure domination

by "Mr. NC-17" on Jan 5, 2009 5:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I have to say that the “Constrictor Team” is an awesome name for a BJJ-based camp.

by Scott Haber on Jan 5, 2009 5:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Uh, not a good matchup.

by smoogy on Jan 5, 2009 5:35 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Agreed. I don’t get it at all.

by Rundownloser on Jan 5, 2009 7:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Easy money.
Unless Paulo has perfected the Rani Yahya Zombie-bum-rush take down this is just unfair.

by Simco on Jan 5, 2009 5:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

kos is going to be like -500 lol

by dbcb on Jan 5, 2009 5:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Paulo Thiago has an opportunity here because everyone (myself included) is going to expect him to get smashed.

I don’t think Thiago has to win to look good, but he’s going to have a tough time not getting aced.

by lunedi18 on Jan 5, 2009 5:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Pure submission guys today are what pure stand up guys used to be in the octagon: utterly useless.

(exception of Damian Maia of course) but even he isn’t considered top five yet.

The only pure submission fighter who is top five is aoki and I dont believe he is top five because in my opinion if he fought in the UFC without his magic underpants he would get reemed by at least 5 guys.

by mmalogic on Jan 5, 2009 6:02 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Of course you think that. Like that’s a surprise. Aoki could catch anyone in a submission at lightweight and win with the possible exception of Penn.

by tylerdurden1 on Jan 5, 2009 6:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ok lets assume he is truly #2 at lightweight…

what other submission only fighters are making any waves (besides Damien but he hasnt fought top five yet)?

Just a year ago you could be great at one thing and good in the rest to be dominant… its getting to a point where even that won’t cut it anymore.

You need to be great in 3 areas.

So the submission only guys who just know how to play patty cake with their hands are obsolete.

by mmalogic on Jan 5, 2009 6:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with the fact you can’t be a one dimensional fighter for the most part. I was just saying Aoki is an exception. Maia maybe as well but I’d like to see him beat at least one high caliber middleweight to say that. Nate Quarry was not that guy. Even though I saw a lot of people picking him in that fight.

by tylerdurden1 on Jan 5, 2009 7:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I dunno, wasn’t Henderson/Palhares an interesting example?

by Michael Rome on Jan 5, 2009 7:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that’s a perfect example.

Damian may crack top five but I don’t see him ever getting to the top.

Patrick Cote for god sakes beat Renzo’s protege who is excellent on the ground.

There’s already a tried and true game plan for beating these guys… yeah these sub guys can come in and crush the lower tier and even some of the mid tier but that in most cases is their ceiling.

Even sprawl and brawling doesnt work any more… ask chuck lidell.

You need more weapons – if you become one dimensional its just simple arithmetic to figure out how to beat you.

GSP is the prototype for tomorrow…

Fighters with almost zero weaknesses… built almost to perfection.

I would say Fedor also but I can fart and he’ll get cut.

Right now in today’s MMA the biggest area of leverage is striking as the gap hasnt been closed yet… it’s getting there though.

by mmalogic on Jan 5, 2009 7:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

About Henderson/Palhares...

I consider Henderson to be the nr2 MW in the UFC (slightly ahead of Franklin). I would take Henderson over Marquart any given day and Nate is very well rounded in my opinion. That said, Palhares was very close to gettin Henderson in a knee-bar, which would have given him a win. How many are even close to wínning against Hendo?

That said, I think Henderson was pretty much tailor-made to beat Toqinho. I still don`t get that match-up. If Hendo had lost, he would have lost to a no-name and prolly in a humiliating way too. A win for Hendo gave him almost nothin. was Dana pissed at hendo or somethin?

"They called him the axe-murderer because he was murdering chumps. They should have been calling him the chump-murderer..." Rampage Jackson (commentating on the fighting abilities of Wanderlei "F#ck Chuck" Silva.)

by BlueberryMuffin on Jan 6, 2009 6:56 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Hendo was coming off two losses to big-name guys (both the LHW and MW champs), so the UFC fed him an up-and-coming submission specialist who had somewhere between zero and absolutely no chance of getting Hendo to the mat with top position. It was a momentum fight that Hendo should win almost every time. If a guy with a wrestling base as strong as Hendo’s, with his powerful right hand to aid in the standup, couldn’t take out a BJJ ace with no wrestling and suspect (at best) striking, well, that would have said a lot. But I think everyone in the know before the fight was pretty sure it was a gimmie for Henderson.

"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."

by AJB on Jan 6, 2009 1:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

True, but it isn’t as likely as it should be for him to be considered top-5. It’s almost like saying, “Houston Alexander has a lot of power; if he connects its lights out for anybody.”

I’m not convinced that Aoki could reliably beat a Kenny Florian or Sean Sherk. I’d honestly pick against him in bout with Franca (mostly stylisically; not that Hermes is a top-5 lightweight) and I see about with him and Joe Stevenson as highly competitive.

by Rundownloser on Jan 5, 2009 7:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I have to agree with you.

In my opinion If he had 3 fights in the UFC he wouldn’t win a single one.

and if he had 2 more those would be pickems.

by mmalogic on Jan 5, 2009 7:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Really?

Sherk has never been tapped in 37 pro fights. But I guess that’s a given..

Let’s not just generalize these scenarios because Shinya looked phenomenal at Dynamite (and, yes, could tap most anyone).

by Blackout612 on Jan 5, 2009 8:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

by dbcb on Jan 5, 2009 7:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

did you watch the highlights?

Thiago seems fairly well rounded — several KOs here and some mean ground and pound. Spinning back kicks, etc.
I still think Koscheck will be too much for him but not because he’s too one dimensional.

by Kid Nate on Jan 6, 2009 12:46 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Its not that his skills seemed unimpressive

it was the competition that it looked like he was doing it too.

Same issue with Cung Le…great, you can do a spinning heel kick…now lets see you do it on someone who isn’t going to basically stand there and wait for it.

by Razreshat on Jan 6, 2009 8:15 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Wow. His standup looks sloppy and Kos has the takedown defense necessary to combat the guys one strength. Kos by TKo rd 1. Geez. What a joke.

by lbk on Jan 5, 2009 6:23 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Josh Koschek is becoming the David Eckstein of MMA.

Brad Ziegler had a scoreless inning streak. Brad Ziegler had not met BJ Upton.

by P Brady on Jan 5, 2009 7:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Credentials

Anyone aware of whether or not Paulo is a black belt? Can’t seem to find his credentials anywhere.

by Blackout612 on Jan 5, 2009 8:35 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Apologize for the off-subject, but...

Will there be meta-rankings for December, Nate?

by flassasin24 on Jan 5, 2009 9:30 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Speaking of off subject...

When’s ADCC this year?

by SamCupitt on Jan 5, 2009 10:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

We’ll have them for January. Lightweight and welterweight are already compiled, but still need to be written up in post form.

Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

by Richard Wade on Jan 5, 2009 10:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

nobody updated their rankings in December

since the big events were on the 27th and the 31st.

by Kid Nate on Jan 6, 2009 12:47 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I like the matchmaking, Josh takes a hard loss and then gets 2 wins back in a span of 4 months. He’s rehabbed in terms of wins and can now maybe face Karo Parisyan in a contendership fight.

by Michael Rome on Jan 6, 2009 2:15 AM EST reply actions 0 recs