Orion was up first, halting Matt Dixon in the third round. Louis, matched up with Victor Reyna, who held a win over UFC vet Daniel Rodriguez and went three rounds with Miguel Baeza in his previous Contender Series bout, was expected to test the Californian.
Cosce expected the same thing out of Reyna.
“Victor is a tough dude,” he said. “I watched his fight against Baeza, and he did a good job. I thought he was winning the majority of it other than him getting dropped. So I knew he was gonna be tough, so it put the pressure on my shoulders to knock him out, or at least go out there and try. I was gonna try for sure.”
Cosce got his wish, needing just 72 seconds to end Reyna’s night. When it was over, he was confident that he was going to get a UFC contract.
“Yeah, I thought for sure if I knocked that guy out within the first, I wasn’t gonna get denied.”
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He wasn’t, and Orion got a contract, as well, and while the storybook ending of the brothers beginning their stay in the UFC on the same night won’t be happening, Cosce is planning on making it a night to remember for the family. And in a perfect world, that’s another quick finish. So no, don’t think that Cosce is one of those fighters who wants a longer fight to show off more of his skill set.
“I think it’s better to put these guys away within seconds,” he said. “It looks good. It looks good to the boss; it looks good around the world to whoever’s watching. I don’t really care about showing off what I have because it gives more film for people to study. The faster you can get out of there, the faster you can get home and you’re at less risk for injury the faster you get out of there.”
You also build quite a fan following, and Cosce is getting there. Dare we say he’s living the dream?
“I’ve been competing all my life and I pretty much come from nothing,” he said. “I’ve been waiting my whole life to be here, so I’m enjoying every single moment of it. It’s a dream come true finally being here and actually being able to compete and try to become one of the best in the world.”