Owe it to the fans

I play this bad guy role for the camera and, yeah, I have fun with it. The people who know me know that I'm not always cocky or arrogant and talking smack but, sure, I have fun with the promotional side of this sport. I get my name out there and people react to me.

I laugh at lot at some of the stuff I read about myself; it's funny to me how excited and upset people get about some of the things I say. I know who I really am as a person, away from TV, and I'd rather people boo me than hit the hotdog stands when I walk to the Octagon.

Y'know I don't care too much what perfect strangers think about me as a person, but I do care about having the respect of the fight fans as a UFC fighter.

That's why I take it seriously that I let the fans down in my last fight. I think I am respected as a contender and as a guy who comes to fight, who started off as a pure wrestler who is now a mixed martial artist.

I've been on the shelf since December and, I'm honest, my last fight sucked. After all the talk and hype I couldn't do anything with GSP with one eye and I let the fans down.

It wasn't a great fight. I don't care if they boo me or cheer me, but they pay to see me fight and on that night I didn't fulfill my side of the deal because it wasn't a great fight. I hung in there in a lot of pain to give them five full rounds, but it wasn't a great fight and no one was happy with it, especially me.

I owe it to the fans and myself to come back and give them a fight they can get excited about -- and a lot of people are excited to see me against Matt Hughes next weekend.

That kind of respect -- the respect for me as a fighter and not a TUF coach or someone who says things in interviews -- does matter and I owe the fans a great fight after the GSP fight didn't live up to the hype.

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I'll tell you exactly why I went out there on Twitter to try to force Matt Hughes into a corner and accept this fight with me at UFC 135 next Saturday. Here's what is up: Matt Hughes used to be one of the best. Used to be. Right now he's nowhere near even one of the best in the world. Where is he ranked? Probably not in a lot people's top 10.

But he's still got that name and is a two-time champion, and beating a name like that in my comeback fight means something.

That's the funny thing. I was prepared to fight middleweights like Chris Leben or even a light heavyweight like Rich Franklin (as long as we met at middleweight) because I know I need a big name to come back to fight.

Instead, I got lucky to get Hughes, a guy who cannot beat my style and he knows it. He can't strike with me and he can't use his wrestling against me like he could some of the guys he's been beating.

That's my thinking, I've been out for a long while. I need a big fight, a big name and I know I can look devastating again against Hughes and it will be a highlight of the night. It will be a tough fight, a battle and it will be exciting with the styles mixing together. It is exactly what I need right now and exactly what he doesn't need right now.

There's no real issue with me and Hughes. It is just he said it numerous times he didn't want to fight any of us from AKA, my train team, and it is long overdue he fights one of us.

Now I am going put Matt Hughes in his place. When he was on top, he wouldn't give any of us "kids" our shot at him. He never manned up. Now he's been forced to fight me and this is going to be so much fun.

Follow me on Twitter @JoshKoscheck.

Josh Koscheck takes on Matt Hughes at UFC 135 on Saturday, Sept. 24 in Denver. He is blogging exclusively for sportsnet.ca on a weekly basis ahead of his fight.

UFC 135 will be shown live on pay-per-view at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET. Watch live preliminary fights on Sportsnet starting at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET.