“The Ultimate Fighter” reality show has been credited as MMA’s jumping off point – what sent the spectacle from a niche audience to near-mainstream acceptability.
Josh Koscheck was a semifinalist on the first season in 2005 and he thinks “Fight Factory,” which premieres Wednesday at 10 p.m. on nuvoTV, has a chance to be right up there in terms of impact.
“This has the potential to be bigger than “The Ultimate Fighter,’” the UFC welterweight star told The Post by phone Monday.
To Koscheck, “Fight Factory,” which will take an in-depth look at fighters from American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif., and Koscheck’s Dethrone Base Camp in Fresno, is like TUF 2.0 – the next generation of what MMA fans want to see.
“This is the first time in the history of our sport you’ll be able to see firsthand what it’s like to be a fighter, following fighters around, seeing what they do to train,” he said. “It’s gonna show all that. There are so many hungry, diehard fans out there and they want to see how guys like [former UFC heavyweight champion] Cain Velasquez train for a fight.”
That’s not to say it was all rosey between “Fight Factory” and the outspoken Koscheck. When he saw the first trailer for the show on its website, he wasn’t too pleased to see AKA founder and trainer Javier Mendez portrayed in such a positive light.
“That first episode p***** me off so bad, it made me not want to be a part of the show,” Koscheck said. “That was complete trash. Hopefully they don’t show that [expletive] again.”
Koscheck left AKA to start his own camp due to a falling out with Mendez. The former welterweight No. 1 contender has been outspoken in the disdain he has for his former coach. Mendez came out last week and said he did something “I shouldn’t have done,” but Koscheck’s words have not been “warranted.”
Koscheck vehemently disagrees.
“That’s all bulls***,” he said. “You guys are gonna see that on the show. He wants to be famous. There’s an episode on there, it’s gonna be pretty interesting when the show comes around.”
Koscheck was cool with the conflict between him and Mendez playing out in front of cameras. He says that things like that happen all the time between talent and promoters, calling it “part of the business.” Koscheck said the best thing about having his own camp is not having to see Mendez every day.
“Knowing that I can go to the gym and not see the guy that is a piece of dogs***, that makes me happy,” he said. … “I may not have the best training partners and the best coaching, but I have people around me that truly care about me and truly want what’s best for me. I don’t think I had that over there.”
Last week, Koscheck pulled out of a fight with Jake Ellenberger that would have taken place as the co-main event of UFC 151 on Sept. 1. The Pennsylvania native has a bulging disc in his back and “some other medical issues” he’s dealing with right now.
Koscheck, 34, does plan on getting back in the Octagon “by the end of the year or early next year.” He doesn’t care who he fights next, but he wouldn’t mind getting a rematch with Johny Hendricks, who beat him in May at UFC on Fox 3 by controversial decision.
“I think the fans think that I definitely won that fight,” Koscheck said. “It is what it is. I’ll take a fight with him. I don’t really care. I’ve never been a guy to turn down a fight against anyone.”
More than anything, Koscheck wants to get across that it isn’t Mendez who made AKA one of the most successful gyms in MMA. It was the work of head trainer Bob Cook and manager DeWayne Zinkun, who recruited him to AKA in the first place.
“All that is gonna come out on the show,” Koscheck said.