Orion Cosce predicts first-round finish at Dana White’s Contender Series Week 3
While he had a strong performance in a third round TKO victory over Wally Wester at BRFC 12 in January, welterweight Orion Cosce was able to use the fight to see where he needed work on his game so he could improve.
In particular, Cosce feels like he could be a bit more deliberate his game, which in turn will allow him to take advantage of openings better in the future.
“I went out there and did what I wanted to do,” Cosce told MMAWeekly.com. “There were a couple of times where I could have finished the fight, but you learn. That’s one of those things where I learned where I could be a little more patient on picking my shots instead of trying to finish the fight immediately.”
Cosce was looking to stay busy following his win over Wester, but due to the novel coronavirus, he was forced to put those plans on hold due to lockdown. One thing that he didn’t stop during lockdown though was his desire to train, no matter what kind of adjustments he had to make to do it.
“Everyone wants to make the excuse that they lose because they weren’t able to train like they wanted to,” said Cosce. “Anyone can train. I was outside. I was swimming. I was hiking. I was still getting my workouts in.
“Maybe I wasn’t able to get my strength training in like I wanted to, but I found ways of getting my strength training in by cutting wood, climbing trees, rock climbing, all that stuff. You can still have your buddies to go outside and train with you.”
On Tuesday, Aug. 18, in Las Vegas, Cosce (6-0) will look to take another step forward in his career when he faces Matt Dixon (9-0) in a welterweight bout at Dana White’s Contender Series 2020: Week 3.
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“He looks athletic, but he looks slow,” Cosce said of Dixon. “He has a good double-leg in the first, but he has a tendency to get tired, and when he gets hurt, he gets nervous. He comes out fast, so I just need to be ready for that, counter, be a lot faster and stronger than he is and put the pace down.
“I just feel like go out there pressure him on the stand-up, because he doesn’t like to get pressured, adjusting the shots, keep stuffing his takedown attempts, and I’ll finish him in the first.”
For Cosce, not only is the Contender Series a chance to earn his way to the UFC, but also compete on a card again with his brother, Louis, which is always a welcome happening.
“We focus on each other,” said Cosce. “We’re best friends. The way we grew up in life it’s one of those things where it made us super close instead of pushing each other away. We enjoy fighting on the same fight card. It makes it more fun.
“This is a stepping stone, but each stepping stone should be looked at like a championship fight. This is a huge opportunity for me to get that contract, but one step at a time. I’m ready to take this fight, and once this one’s done I’m going to tell Dana White to get me another one as soon as he can.”
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Orion Cosce predicts first-round finish at Dana White’s Contender Series Week 3
