Koch Itching for Title Shot

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Erik Koch did what he had to do to win.

That’s how he sees his UFC Fight Night 25 performance against Jonathan Brookins, which resulted in a unanimous decision victory. Koch got the nod, but it wasn’t a particularly entertaining performance from an otherwise entertaining fighter.

“With Brookins, the only threat I ever saw him giving me was a single leg, trying to take my back against the fence or a lateral drop,” Koch told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Savage Dog Show.” “My biggest thing was just defending those. I feel confident on the ground, but when I was in there standing with him, I knew he had nothing for me. It was just one of those things: I didn’t want to get Mendes’d again.”

By that Koch means he didn’t want to repeat his bout against Chad Mendes. In his view, Mendes used takedowns and ground control to outpoint him without doing any real damage. Against Brookins, Koch fought off takedowns, refusing to go to his back and lose another decision. He fought cautiously but wisely.

“I didn’t want to have this streak going and then get stupid, carried away and let the boos get to me and start trying to attack him if he didn’t want to fight,” Koch said. “He’s got to want to fight too. I’m a crowd-pleaser, but sometimes when you fight guys like that, they’re looking for the same thing. They’re looking to stall. I have to look for the W.”

The fight was Brookins’ first since winning “The Ultimate Fighter 12.” His victory on the reality show was a factor in Koch’s desire to fight him.

“That’s one of the reasons I wanted the fight, just because I wanted to steal that thunder,” Koch said. “I wish I could have [beat him] in a devastating fashion, but not all fights are like that. If I would have lost to Jonathan Brookins, it would have set me back quite a bit. We’ve just got to keep inching, and when someone’s willing to stand with me, it will be a war. We’ll bang it out and give fans what they want to see. I tried against Jonathan, but at the same time, I didn’t want to overcommit.”

Koch ended up with the win and it was his fourth straight, with two coming in the WEC and two in the UFC. At this point, he’s starting to think about a title shot at 145 pounds. Champion Jose Aldo defends his belt against Kenny Florian at UFC 136, and Mendes, the only fighter to beat Koch, is also in line for the next crack.

“I’ve just kind of got to wait and see,” he said. “If they give [the next shot to Mendes] or if I get a rematch with Mendes or they just give me another top fighter -- the loser of Florian-Aldo? Anything like that, anybody that they would look at and say, ‘OK, if Erik gets a win over him, we’ll give him a title shot.’ That’s pretty much what I’m looking for. It’s not a deal about rushing it. That’s what we all want. We’re all fighting for the title. We’re not doing this just for the hell of it. At least I’m not. I want the title. Whatever the UFC thinks is best for me to get my title shot, that’s what I want.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 1:26:37).