Trigg To Return Against Koscheck at UFC 103 on September 19 in Dallas (Updated)
As rumored, Frank Trigg will return to the Octagon for the first time in over four years to take on welterweight contender Josh Koscheck at UFC 103 in Dallas, Texas.
MMAjunkie, which confirmed the bout with sources close to the event, is reporting that UFC 103 is now scheduled to take place on September 19, one week earlier than its rumored September 26 date and just three days after UFC Fight Night 19 on September 16 in Oklahoma City.
A cast member on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, Koscheck (12-4) emerged as a contender in the welterweight division by earning wins in seven of his first eight bouts. After suffering a unanimous decision loss to current champion Georges St-Pierre in mid-2007, Kos rebounded with back-to-back victories over Dustin Hazelett and Chris Lytle. The former collegiate wrestler has has stumbled lately, scoring a first round knockout of Yoshiyuki Yoshida between losses to upcoming title challenger Thiago Alves and newcomer Paulo Thiago, though the latter was a controversial flash knockout protested by Koscheck.
Trigg (19-6), whose return to the UFC was confirmed last month, went 2-3 in his first stint in the Octagon, twice challenging for the welterweight title, but falling short on both occasions. Since leaving the UFC in 2005, “Twinkle Toes” has gone 7-2, including an IconSport title bout victory over Jason “Mayhem” Miller as well as wins against Kazuo Misaki, Edwin Dewees, and Falaniko Vitale.
Update at 11:48 am EST 6-4-09 by Justin:
When I asked Trigg via his Twitter account if he could confirm the match up, he replied, “No I can not.” This, however, could be due to legal reasons with the bout agreements not yet being signed. Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com and as soon as Trigg can confirm the bout, we will pass that along to you.
Return to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest UFC 103 news.
[Pictured: Frank Trigg]
Tags: Frank Trigg, Josh Koscheck
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I figured they would put him on the under card for his first fight but this seems it would be on the main card. I hope Trigg trains well, Kos will not be an easy fight.
Trigg is a relatively popularly fighter, so to me it makes sense for him to be on the main card.
Yeah trigg is pretty well known, besides this will be a fight people want to watch so it’s kool they put it in the main card. I wonder how well trigg will do with the newly evolved ww div. It’s not like it was before when hughes rained as the champ. It will be interesting to see how this fight plays out because of both their wrestling backgrounds. Although kos has been standing in recent fights, maybe he’ll do so with trigg.
I think Frank Trigg can win this fight. He has good wrestling with decent subs and has decent stand-up and has a lot of experience with top fighters such as Georges St. Pierre, Matt Hughes and Robbie Lawlor.
I don;t think Koscheck will show Trigg anything Trigg hasn’t already seen yet, and vise versa. Koscheck has that one straight punch that he throws that has some power, but you can see it coming a mile away. This is an interesting matchup becasue both guys kinda have their backs against the wall so it’s going to be interesting to see how they aprroach the fight,do they stand or take it to the ground?
I like both guys and want to see both guys do well, so it’s hard to root for someone, but i feel they match-up well so we can expect a good fight whether it’s on the ground or on their feet.
If it stays standing i’m picking Kos, but if Trigg can get the takewdown, he has a lot of knowledge and decent ground game, better than Kos’s overall ground game so i’m giving him the edge there.
sure trigg has experience with gsp(beat him so dominantly he cried afterwards), hughes(choked out twice)and robby lawler just crushed him- are you forgetting all that?!!!by the way i don’t even like koschek but he fought gsp to a decision- something trigg couldn’t do.
I think Trigg/Koscheck could be a very interesting fight. Trigg is entertaining and bring a lot to the table. It will be nice to see him back in the UFC. Kos still has that wrestling pedigree and his stand-up has improved. A loss to Thiago Alves is something even GSP may not be able to avoid.
Although unlikely I wonder if Trigg will get the next title shot if he gets past Kos in dominating fashion. Cause they do need to start building up another contender for GSP or Alvez. Maybe Swick if he beats Saunders, or Fitch “if” Alvez wins and he beats Paulo Thiago.
cant wait to see it hopefully koscheck can regain his past success
not much to regain in my opinion. guy just got caught. he’ll be back!
indeed
This would be a great fight, and a make-or-break fight for both of them. Definitely deserves to be on the main card, and I think it would play out a lot like the Trigg/Lawler fight—-lots of action both on the feet and on the ground.
Josh Koscheck, i feel that he really had a chance to be a serious contender around this time. I know he took the fight on short notice against Thiago Alves, but he came back strong knocking out the guy that looks like “Shang Sung” from “Mortal Kombat” the movie. After that fight he should have taken some time off rather than wanting to fight every 2 or three months. I’m not saying that Paul Thiago got lucky,just that Koscheck was problably kinda drained and worn down. If he can finish Trigg it will look good for him being that Trigg is well known and is making his “big” return, so Kos will have the opportunity to spoil his return. I think Koscheck can beat most guys at 170, he has awesome athletic ability and has improved his overall kicking and punching strkiking, but he should use that to his advantage and use it to set up takedowns and subs,rather than only trying to knock guys out. Koscheck has awesome takedowns and is a young strong dude so if he refoucusses on that he’ll be able to deal with any guy at 170.
Frank Trigg, since he’s getting up there in age, should stick to taking guys down and pounding them out or trying to sub them because at 170, guys like Anthony Johnson,Matt Brown,Killa B. Saunders and of course St. Pierre and Alves, all these guys can knock him out quit easy because as we’ve seen time and time again, guys 36 or older, there chins have proven to be way soft, look at Liddell, and Matt Hughes almost got ko’d by Serra’s head and it din’t even connect that well, my point is that Trigg is a decent fighter, but saty away from the stand-up with theses younger guys cuz they will score a ko from you dude.
kos will be to much for trigg, kos is top 4 in my eyes
I agree john i dont even care about his loss to Thiago. Anyone who can take both GSP and Alvez to decisions, is a tough and skilled fighter in my mind. Besides the obvious three the only WW id maybe have in front of him would be shields. With swick condit and kampman all right behind them.
I can’t believe that Trigg is back in the UFC. There are so many fighters around the world that are young and could be a fixture in that division for years to come, why waste the money on someone that is nothing more than a glorified gatekeeper?
Seems to me there really throwing trigg to the wolves.I wouldn’t of minded seeing him fight someone with a little less credentials for his first fight back.I think kos is gonna overwehlm him and ground n pound his way to a victory.I also think kos is really hungry right now and probally feels like he’s got something to prove.
I think Trigg has a few things working against him here. First is age, and the second is directly related, in that Trigg is on the downside of his MMA career IMO and Kos is near to peaking, and improving pretty much every time out. Finally, I think the WW talent level in the UFC is so frighteningly high that even if Trigg slips past Kos, who has shown a tendency towards judgement lapses and in-fight focus, where does he go from there? Does anyone see Trigg doing well against someone like Jon Fitch??
Not to ever compare Kos to Matt Hughes, but Trigg has illustrated a certain lack of success against fighters who think wrestling first, last, and in the middle. Trigg is an entertaining commentator and quality competitor, and I wish him well in the UFC. For me this is going to be a case of hoping for the best [for Trigg], but expecting the worst…
I realy dont see this whole judgement lapse and in-fight foucus thing your talking about. Lets take a look back at all these lapses.
Fought diego sanchez to a boring 3 round decision. which at the end of the first round he got the takedown but sanchez imediately took his back, and the bell sounded. Soooo like a smart fighter he kept the fight standing for the next two rounds where he had the advantage and wins the fight.
Then he takes on GSP. The first round starts with them trading takedowns and being pretty even on the feet. Second round Kos gets stuffed on his takedown and controlled and almost subbed by a kimora(kinda). Sooooooo he keeps the fight standing where they were more evenly matched and has a close 3rd round. Kos loses via decision. And gives GSP the closest fight hes ever had in his career(besides the first penn fight).
Next he fights Hazelett a Wizard on the ground. He smartly keeps the fight standing and TKO’s him badly.
Then he fights Chris Lytle one of the hardest hitters at 170. Takes him down and pounds on him for all three rounds barely risking any exchanges. Wins the UD
Next up is WW wrecking machine Alvez. Obviously Kos is outmatched on the feet. After establishing some striking and not looking desperate Kos goes for reapeted takedowns throughout the course of the fight and allthough unsuccessfull it probably didnt let Alvez set in to his stiking and realy unload. what i was most impressed with was when Kos got rocked in the first and third he stayed come and turned the fight into a sramble instead of throwing bombs and geting sloppy. He fought the third round pretty much on one leg. and survived against one of the premiere stikers at 170.
And against Yoshida he was obviously favoured in that fight but still respected his submission game, and kept the fight standing. Result Yoshida gets KTFO.
And in his last outing he took on undefeated BJJ ace Paulo Thiago with seven wins coming via submission. Josh smartly keeps the fight standing and was working over a seemingly outmatched Thiago whos striking looked pretty sloppy. At the point when Kos got knocked we were all anticipating the exact opposite cause thats how one sided the affair had been. Kos gets cought and loses.
Do I “like” Josh not realy, but do i respect him as a fighter and think that hes actually a smart competitor absolutely.
Hey carls you forgot to mention the drew fickett fight.I just didn’t want you to leave anything out.
And the pete spratt fight and the jeff joslin fight plus a couple other guys i dont know their names, i didnt want to gon on forever. I think he got rocked by a knee at the end of the third then ficket got the rear naked choke. but you get the point.
This better noy be the main event!!!