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"I’m not alone in thinking he’s a dick," Ebersole said. "I revisited AKA a time or two since I’d moved to Australia. The first time, I came off of a 14-hour flight and went straight to the gym. I announced that I had a fairly serious neck injury. I had a decent spar with Fitch, who held me down and beat me up, but kept a respectable speed/intensity. But Koscheck acted like I was standing in the way of him and a paycheck. And socially, he was very abrasive per usual."
Ebersole came to the defense of the coaching staff as well, and ripped into Koscheck's special treatment while he was at the gym until 2005.
"Josh came out to AKA in 2004, but he didn’t come straight out to live in San Jose," Ebersole explained. "He immediately settled into Fresno, where our manager lived in a mansion, had a private jet, and set Josh up with a cozy income-earning position coaching wrestling, privately, to groups of school-kids. Being AKA’s first All-American wrestler, he seemed to have gotten the royal treatment. That’s my view, looking back. With that, Mr. Koscheck traveled into San Jose when he saw fit."
"I think AKA has some of the most talented coaches he could have asked for," Ebersole continued later in the interview. "Camarillo, BJJ/Judo Black belt. Javier was a world champion. Bob Cook was an undefeated MMA fighter and is widely regarded as Frank Shamrock’s best student (and he went on to train under many more talented gentlemen). Daniel Cormier came out and acted as a coach and teammate. Jerome Turcan, who handled my striking development, is a multiple time French Savate Champion and a former K-1 Finalist. I mean, he was surrounded by talented former athletes, and some of the best active athletes in his weight class (Fitch, Swick, etc.)"
"He couldn’t get good work in? It was there to be had. He mentioned that Javier coached him but that he didn’t learn anything. Really? I learn from BJJ blue belts whilst I travel the globe teaching and training. And you can’t learn from a former World Champion? That’s a curious comment, if you ask me, which you did."
But that wasn't all Ebersole had to say on the subject, and he ripped into Koscheck while at the same time expressing that none of Koscheck's actions were surprising to him.
"I think he was successful because he had a chip on his shoulder all his life. And that’s fine," Ebersole said. "But when life opens its doors to you, allows you to live the dream, maybe some class, tact, and grace is called for? Life and society has obviously stopped beating Koscheck up at every turn. I assume an educated guy like him would actually put into practice some of the things he’s “learned” about treating others as you’d like to be treated."
"He’s always a bit flippant and disrespectful to [MMAFighting.com and Fuel TV's Ariel] Helwani, but this last interview was ridiculous," he continued. "Bad attempts at humor and despite the line of questioning, he brought it back to the drama/breakup he had with AKA. He went well out of his way to slander Javier Mendez and the system that AKA has built. Very disrespectful. Koscheck was not a self-made UFC star, as he’d like you to believe. There are more guys than just me that remember him punching like a girl for a few years. He’s figured it out now, and punches with power, but he didn’t do that on his own."
"If he had any problems with Javier, it’s because Javier was the only one that would conflict with him. Most of the coaches are very non-confrontational. Javier tells it how he sees it. Josh probably had a big problem anytime criticism came; and 90% of that would have come from Javier, because it was not in the nature of the other coaches. Not surprising that they butted heads. And not surprising that Kos has acted like a child in regard to his life-changing plans. Disappointing to many, no doubt. But not surprising to anyone who knows him."
Penick's Analysis: Ebersole certainly didn't hold back here, and I'm sure there are plenty that would characterize Koscheck in the same way. At the same time, this is one side from a a fighter who has only been affiliated with AKA in spurts for the last several years, and hasn't been as present as others in the gym to give this assessment of Koscheck. Still, he can only speak on his own personal experiences with those involved, and he's given a scathing take on Koscheck's role in the situation. Koscheck is sure to fire back at some point, and perhaps the two of them will have a chance to square off down the line, but for now, Ebersole has certainly fired off one hell of a salvo to kick things off.
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_12843.shtml
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