Between a healthy need for revenge, a tense relationship with UFC president Dana White, and a promise to call it like he sees it, Josh Koscheck thinks "The Ultimate Fighter 12" is going to be a good one.

"It will be like season one," Koscheck, who begins his stint as a coach on the reality show this week in Las Vegas, told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) from the Spike TV booth at UFC Fan Expo 2010.

If that holds true, you can expect mind games, rivalries and drama – all the stuff that's helped keep the UFC's Petri dish for new talent alive for a half-decade while making Koscheck a polarizing figure in the welterweight division.

Koscheck (15-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC), 32, coaches opposite UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC) during a six-week shoot. He earned the slot at UFC 113 in Montreal with a unanimous-decision victory over Paul Daley; the fight took an ugly turn when Daley slugged him after the bell. (Daley was immediately released from the UFC.)

Koscheck took criticism during and after the fight for a cautious, takedown-heavy approach. He could hear hecklers in the stands. But that's nothing new for him.

"[The fans] might not like me, but guess what – I win fights, and that's the bottom line," he said.

When the chaos from Daley's suckerpunch died down, Koscheck took the mic to bash the city's hockey team, the Montreal Canadiens, and call out St-Pierre. He had planned the comeback the entire week leading up to the fight.

"I was like, 'I know they're going to boo, and if they boo, I've got to have some reaction for those [expletives].'" Koscheck said. "I was like, 'These [expletive] suckers are going to get it when I get that microphone.'"

He wasn't worried, though, that he might have to fight his way out of the parking lot.

"I'm a fighter," Koscheck said. "What are they going to do? They hate until they see me; once they see me, they kiss my ass."

He admits, though, that it was a "safe" fight, a term that's become a dirty word among fight fans.

"I had the worst training camp I've ever had in my entire life," Koscheck said. "A lot of personal issues. A lot of injuries. But I showed up, and I fought, and the coaches etched out a great game plan for me, and I stuck to the game plan to a T.

"It was a conservative fight. It's not the game plan that I personally wanted [for the] fight, but it's the game plan my coaches worked me for 12 weeks in training camp."

The fuzzy-haired fighter has met almost constant scorn since he appeared on the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" and clashed with cast member Chris Leben. In a sport in which politics take a close second to fighting ability, he has separated himself from the pack as a guy who doesn't try to tow the company line, and he doesn't care if you like him or not.

Cue the boos.

It's also put him in the crosshairs of UFC management; White said he doesn't get along with Koscheck and thinks the fighter is "not a team player."

"How the [expletive] can I not be a team player?" Koscheck retorted. "I'm the guy that steps up and fights anybody when they need it. It's all [expletive].

"But [Dana] doesn't like me, (and) I don't like him. That's fine."

Is Kosheck misunderstood – or just a plain old jerk?

"If you knew me in person, (and) if you got to hang out with me – my down time away from the TV – I'm a lot different person," he said. "That's for sure."

That different person, he said, is the one who volunteers time at military bases around the country. The one who teaches a kids program at his gym in Fresno, Calif., and relishes the chance to make a positive impact on his students' lives. The one who wants to get married and start a family.

"At the end of the day, I don't care about the money or the fame," Koscheck said. "I want to have that family because they're always going to be there."

His current family at American Kickboxing Academy seem mostly amused by his reputation.

"He's a great friend and a training partner," said Mike Swick, his longtime training partner at AKA. "I've seen both sides.

"We all know he does what he feels. He speaks his mind. Sometimes it doesn't come across the right way. He doesn't care who you are, and that's in real life and on camera. He's real."

Koscheck disdains much of MMA culture and stays away from its scene. He spends time around a select few fighters, a group that includes his teammates and fighters such as Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin. When fighting is done, he wants to be a successful investor.

"I hate cage monkeys," he said. "That's what I call all the MMA fighters. Somebody says jump, they say, 'How high?' I'm not like that, man. I want bigger things than just fighting in a cage.

"This is great; don't get me wrong. This is badass. I love what do. I love my job. I appreciate all the fans and every opportunity that I have, but I want bigger (things) than just being the cage guy."

For now, he's most certainly the cage guy, and the cage guy most fans want to see on the canvas – unconscious.

As long as you care, you can think whatever you want to think.

"It's like Dennis Rodman, one of the best rebounders in the NBA ever," Koscheck said. "He didn't get noticed and start making real money until he started ... acting crazy.

"So, you never know. Maybe I'll come out in a wedding dress when I fight St-Pierre."

From heel to in heels? That'd be a sight.