Josh Koscheck claims UFC asked him to 'stir up something' with B.J. Penn on Twitter

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight number one contender and current bad boy, Josh Koscheck, has always had a way of getting under peoples' skin.

Recently, "Kos" found himself smack dab in the middle of drama again when he claimed the UFC offered him a fight versus former UFC Lightweight and Welterweight Champion B.J. Penn, who announced his retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA) after losing to Nick Diaz at UFC 137 in "Sin City" on Oct 29, 2011.

Unfortunately for Koscheck, "The Prodigy" wasn't hearing any of it, quickly shooting down the validity of the bout and expressing his contentment with remaining a retiree.

During an interview with Spike TV's "MMA Uncensored Live," Koscheck let the cat out of the bag that he may have been given a little nudge by the UFC brass to try and cause some tension with the Hawaiian on Twitter. That's one way to get the UFC's twitter bonus:

"Me and B.J. have a good relationship. It's business, and, you know what? I like to have big fights. I think that B.J. is the type of fighter that would be a big fight for me. The UFC asked to try and stir up something. You know, I do my job well, and I went on to my Twitter account, and just kinda said, 'Hey, B.J. Let's do this fight.'"

A fight with Penn doesn't appear to be in the cards for Koscheck, but neither does a title shot, in the near future, after losing a split decision to Johny Hendricks at UFC on Fox 3 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on May 5, 2012.

It was a loss that many feel knocked Koscheck down a few pegs. Not in his eyes:

"I don't think that fight really hurt me, because a lot of people know that it could have gone either way. Johny Hendricks is a tough kid, you know, comes from a wrestling background. I gotta give him respect for what he's done in wrestling. I thought his weight classes were a bit weaker than mine, possibly, but he was a good wrestler. He's transitioning, now, into a fighter, and he's still young in his career. I think he's got a long way to go to make it to the top. Johny Hendricks could probably win ten fights in a row and still never make as much money as me."

As far as Koscheck is concerned, he just wants the fights that carry the biggest paycheck. If that comes for him at 170 pounds, so be it, but he's also completely open to big fights at Middleweight:

"I'd like to think, yeah, because there's some big fights there. It'd be potential for me to make a bigger payday. At the end of the day, at this point in my career, obviously, I care more about winning, and that's the only thing, but also winning comes along with money. I'm willing to fight at 185. If I was a month into vacation, I probably would have offered to fight the Wanderlei (Silva) fight. So, if anybody at 185 that has a big name wants to call me out, call me out, and we'll do it."

Because of his well documented relationship with and unwillingness to fight Jon Fitch, Koscheck is very familiar with the situation that Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier find themselves in.

They're both big name heavyweights who may be asked to fight each other one day. They've both publicly said that they won't do it.

While Koscheck can surely identify with their predicament, he thinks they will eventually succumb to the pressure:

"I don't think that'd be the case. I think those guys haven't been training together as long as me and Jon Fitch have, and I think that they would probably do it. Those heavyweights make a boat load of money. With that kind of money on the line, I think they'd say, 'Let's do it.'"

Speaking of Cormier, Koscheck gave his review on "DC's" latest win over Josh Barnett at Strikeforce: "Barnett vs. Cormier" in San Jose, Calif., on May 19, 2012.

Koscheck has trained with Cormier inthe past, and according to him, he saw a very different and improved fighter that took home the Strikeforce belt:

"For the Daniel that I know, I was really impressed with him. He's a jerkoff, when it comes to training and stuff. I didn't a chance to see him train, since I relocated to Fresno, and I got my own gym, but he must have trained his butt off. I've never seen him in that good of shape and be able to throw, you know I think he threw like -- I think that Compu-stats were like 275 punches...for heavyweights, which is pretty impressive."

On his way out, Koscheck was asked about his reputation that he's earned over the course of his career. He's well aware of how he's viewed, but if it were up to him, he wouldn't change a thing:

"I get a lot of hate. Not only by other fighters, but, obviously, the fans. What's funny is, I play 'em all like a riddle. I'm the guy that's laughing, all the way to the bank. I'd do it the same way. I was telling Mike (Straka), before, 'You know what? I've been real, from day one. I've never changed, from the first Ultimate Fighter till now. It's been like eight years or something that I've been in the sport. I've never changed, and I won't change. I like I've done it the right way. I did it my way, and not many people can say that."

Spoken like a true heel.

One thing's for sure, love him or hate him, Koscheck is definitely a fighter who has done and will continue to do things his way, no matter the cost.