Perhaps repeating past mistakes, UFC welterweight contender Josh Koscheck has his sights firmly set on challenging Georges “Rush” St. Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship and appears to be overlooking a formidable opponent, Mike Pierce, at UFC Fight Night 20.

Koscheck previously made headlines by bragging about knowing nothing about his UFC 95 opponent, newcomer Paulo Thiago, but was promptly knocked out by a two-punch combination from Thiago in the later stages of the first round.

The embarrassing loss to Thiago sent Koscheck well down the UFC’s welterweight ladder and ended any hopes of a future title shot. He rebounded with a quick TKO victory over aging former title challenger Frank Trigg at UFC 103, but the win over Trigg is nowhere near enough to earn a crack at the title in the ultra-competitive division.

Koscheck (13-4-0) has already faced St. Pierre once before, but was soundly defeated in a non-title fight at UFC 74. Koscheck is 4-2-0 since that time, but a lopsided defeat against Thiago Alves and the aforementioned knockout loss to Paulo Thiago should have been enough to teach Koscheck not to underestimate his opponents.

That lesson appears to have gone unlearned, as Koscheck recently ignored Pierce altogether and told fans that he would be beating up St. Pierre soon.

Pierce (10-1-0) won his UFC debut over highly-regarded contender Brock Larson at UFC Fight Night 19. His lone career defeat came via decision in a five-round title fight against Nathan Coy at SportFight 23. He is not a fighter whom Koscheck should be overlooking, but Koscheck’s focus is already well past Pierce.

Six of Pierce’s ten victories have come by a form of knockout and Koscheck could very easily find himself on the wrong end of a punch from another fighter whom he has taken lightly. Often criticised for being cocky, Koscheck does little to dispel such suggestions by paying such little regard to quality opponents like Pierce.

A Koscheck victory would put him somewhere in the middle of a long list of title challengers, though many feel that there may not be anyone who can dethrone St. Pierre at this time. A loss would all but end Koscheck’s hopes of competing for the title at any time in the coming year.

UFC Fight Night 20 is set for January 11, 2010 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia.