UPDATED: Did UFC referee Yves Lavigne says Koscheck will be eaten alive by GSP, also "scared" to strike with Daley?

UPDATE: Yves Lavigne is denying that he gave the interview in question and it has been pulled from the canoe.com web site. See more at BloodyElbow.com

UFC referee, and French-Canadian, Yves Lavigne recently had some choice words for Josh Koscheck, the next opponent for Montreal's own Georges St. Pierre.

À son dernier combat, au Centre Bell justement, il a eu peur de se faire frapper et s’est contenté de tenir son adversaire (le Britannique Paul Daley) au sol, a expliqué l’officiel québécois. Les partisans l’avaient hué et Daley, frustré de son attitude dans le combat, l’avait même frappé après le duel!

Translated, that states that in Josh's last fight at the Bell Center, Josh was afraid to strike and was happy to hold Daley on the ground. The crowd booed and Daley, upset at the strategy, punched him after the bell.

Now, there are some fans that have that same attitude. They are idiots. However, they aren't refs. This guy is. It's almost certain that he will be reffing on this card and there's a big chance he will be reffing this main. Oops, not anymore.

Je crois que Georges, tout comme lors de leur premier affrontement (remporté par décision unanime par St-Pierre en août 2007), va dominer, a-t-il continué. Il a amélioré ses frappes. Koscheck va sûrement essayer d’arracher la tête à GSP avec une grosse main droite, comme Matt Serra l’avait fait, mais quand il verra que ça ne marche pas et qu’il se fera atteindre, il se fera renverser.

Here he states that GSP, just like in the first fight, will dominate. His striking is improved. Josh will try to take GSP's head off with a right hand like Serra did and will fail.

"Je suis un peu surpris, car il avait dit qu’il ne reviendrait jamais. Les partisans ne l’avaient pas manqué lors de sa dernière présence ici", a lancé Lavigne, assurant du même coup que le Centre Bell serait plein à craquer, peu importe l’adversaire de St-Pierre.

Here he states that he is surprised that Josh is fighting in Montreal because after the Daley fight, he said he would never return and the fans didn't forget his last time here. He also assures the writer that the Bell Center will be filled with fans supporting GSP no matter who he fights.

En fait, à 170 lb, outre St-Pierre, j’ai l’impression que les fighters ont arrêté d’évoluer, a-t-il analysé. Après Koscheck, il lui restera peut-être deux combats chez les mi-moyens avant de se retirer."

Here he says that the challenge at 170 lbs hasn't evolved for GSP and after he beats Koscheck, there's only two fights left for him there before leaving the division.

Jon Fitch, un dur à cuire qui avait déjà duré cinq rounds face à Georges et qui a gagné tous ses combats depuis, serait probablement le prochain à lui faire face, a-t-il continué. Le gagnant du combat entre le spécialiste de jiu-jitsu Jake Shields et le Danois Martin Kampfmann pourrait aussi tenter de lui ravir sa couronne. Shields, au sol, serait le plus dangereux rival pour St-Pierre, mais il n’est pas bon debout.

Here he says that Jon Fitch is probably the next to fight GSP, but GSP already beat him for 5 rounds in a decision. The winner of the Kampmann/Shields fight would be after that and while Shields rivals GSP on the ground, he's "no good standing up".

"Ça ne serait pas surprenant qu’il prenne une pause d’un an et demi ou deux, a indiqué la sommité des arts martiaux mixtes. S’il veut monter à 185 lb et défier le Brésilien Anderson Silva, il doit prendre 15 lb de muscle, tout en n’affectant pas sa vitesse et son cardio. Ça ne se fait pas en criant ciseau."

According to Lavigne, he would not be surprised if after GSP "cleans house" at 170 lbs, he takes time off to rest and go to 185 to fight Anderson Silva after putting on some muscle the right way.

All in all, very interesting comments by Mr. Lavigne. Safe to say, he won't be reffing a GSP or a Koscheck fight anytime soon.  Au revoir.

Edit: The above article and the opinions that followed were made with the belief that the interview with Mr. Lavigne was authentic. The interview was recently taken down and Mr. Lavigne has stated that he never "gave an interview" to this author. As this story is still breaking, we at WKR will continue to keep you updated and we will have more information in the upcoming hours. If in fact these comments were not made by Mr. Lavigne, I can only offer my sincerest regrets for the commentary offered based on incorrect info.