Koscheck-Pierce, Escudero-Lentz, Lawlor-Simpson Reported for UFC Fight Night 20
Three bouts were added to the card for UFC Fight Night 20 on Friday, as Josh Koscheck vs. Mike Pierce, Efrain Escudero vs. Nik Lentz, and Tom Lawlor vs. Aaron Simpson were reported by MMAjunkie and Fanhouse for the January 11 Spike TV-televised event that is expected to take place in Fairfax, Virginia.
Following a 7-1 streak between 2006 and 2008, Koscheck (13-4) has gone 2-2 in his last four fights, including a first-round knockout of Frank Trigg in September in his most-recent bout. Pierce (9-1) has won six-straight, including an upset win over Brock Larson in his UFC debut in September.
Escudero (12-0), The Ultimate Fighter 8 lightweight winner, began his post-TUF career with a first-round knockout of Cole Miller in September. Lentz (17-3) won his seventh-straight in September, topping Rafaello Oliveira by unanimous decision in his Octagon debut.
A cast member on The Ultimate Fighter 8, Lawlor (6-1) has won back-to-back UFC fights over Kyle Kingsbury and CB Dollaway. Simpson (6-0), an All-American wrestler at Arizona State, improved to 6-0 with UFC wins over Tim McKenzie and Ed Herman in 2009.
For the latest UFC Fight Night 20 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.
Tags: Aaron Simpson, Efrain Escudero, Josh Koscheck, Mike Pierce, Nik Lentz, Tom Lawlor
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Wow. Good fights. Pierce will for sure be the underdog again.
What happened to Koscheck fighting more often and against tougher competition….nothing against pierce.I actually think it’ll be a great fight and a decent test for Koscheck but what about hughes???
I really think the whole “team” aspect of mma is hurting the WW division. Correct me if i’m wrong but isnt Kos, Swick and Fitch all part of the same team. These guys are all around the same level in the WW division if you ask me (Fitch being the best of the 3 imo). To truly elevate these guys they need big name wins but they won’t fight so they stay in limbo. Thats my little rant.
Yes, Koscheck, Swick, and Fitch are all part of the same “team”, Bob Cook’s American Kickboxing Academy, or as it is more commonly known, AKA.
Yes, Pierce will put up a decent fight, but he’s probably not at that top tier 170 level like Kos is. As for Koscheck, Swick, or Fitch calling out Matt Hughes, a fighter who has as much admitted that he’s fighting for his love of the sport, and not for title contention, that sort of seems to me like a b!tch thing to do.
These 3 AKA 170ers should be working hard to secure title fights with GSP, or fights with opponents that can get them some sort of title consideration, instead of looking to grab some cheap cred by beating an aging legend like Hughes, who is on record as no longer having the fire and hunger for championship level competition at 170.
I also hold Bob Cook partly responsible for such sh!t-awful behavior, seeing as how he runs AKA, and I’m sure has a ton of influence on all 3 fighters.
Some of the frenZied agree with my opinion that the AKA trio and Cook are out of order with this Hughes challange thing, while others do not.
And yes, in some cases the whole “team” mentality is hurting the UFC’s 170 division, but thats probably because they’re employing so many fighters in every weightclass.
In general, the sport is probably helped by talented guys training with and under other talented guys, but in the specific case of AKA’s “Three Amigos”, they’re snarling up the 170 division and not really helping themselves reach championship gold.
IMO at some point Dana White will have to call some or all of these 3 guys into his office and tell them to knock off their sh!t, or move on to other wightclasses, as Jon Fitch has commented he would do if one of his boys were to win the 170 title.
Fortunately unless any one of these guys walks out to the cage for a title fight wearing Iron Man’s armor, he’s not going to beat GSP, so all we’re really talking about here is who is the second best 170er in the UFC…
I dont think its that big of a deal. UFC has been getting a lot of WW lately. I’m not dying to see a Kos Fitch matchup or any combination of those 3.
If those AKA guys want to keep staying around in the UFC and fighting up and comers and not fight each other and actually get CLOSER to a title shot instead of having to fight people like Pierce (not saying he’s a no name, but he’s pretty fresh in terms of the UFC)
Fitch is boring as hell and I always want to see Kos get knocked out when he fights. I actually don’t have a problem with Swick… but whatever
just my opinion.
@mmaman i agree with you 100% …….it bugs the sh!t out of me that they wont fight each other,,,i get it, they train together but really if all three of them are contenders then shouldnt they have to fight each other at some point to determine a true top contender?…im not in there shoes, so maybe someone could clear this up for me…..is it just to hard to take a fight seriously if your fighting a training partner or friend?…….im sure its been done before…..thoughts?….