Josh Koscheck Hurt Again, Out of UFC 163 Bout With Demian Maia
It looks like the bad run of Josh Koscheck continues to roll on. The former UFC welterweight title challenger has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled UFC 163 bout against Demian Maia. It’s been a rough year for Kos, who lost an ultra-thin split decision to Johny Hendricks before pulling out of his planned bout with Jake Ellenberger at the phantom UFC 151.
Koscheck returned to action at UFC 157 in February, but turned in an uninspired performance when he was TKO’ed in the first round by Strikeforce import Robbie Lawler. The news comes as unfortunate for the August 3rd card, which has already been ravaged by injury when Anthony Pettis pulled out of his pivotal featherweight title bout against Jose Aldo. Demian Maia has also been pulled from the card with no suitable replacement readily available.
With such a downward slide in place, one has to wonder if this is the end of the line for Koscheck. He’s made a decent career out of being the perfect heel, as fans definitely line up to see him get beat. He’s been a gatekeeper at 170 for some time now, but with injuries and losses piling up, it’s hard to see him ever getting past that role. No official announcement has been made about the length of his absence.
For Maia, it’s a setback but not much of one, as the surging welterweight will still retain his high ranking within the division. It may be most beneficial for him to wait for the winner of July 27th’s Rory MacDonald/Jake Ellenberger bout at UFC on FX 8 in Seattle. He may not be able to fight in his home country of Brazil, but he may actually find himself with a more relevant fight upon his return.
