UPDATED 9/5 The latest information on UFC fighter Josh Koscheck and MMA ref Yves Lavigne

(This story has been updated with a transcript of a portion of the French radio interview of Yves Lavigne in regards to GSP/Koscheck.)

Since the original story I wrote on Thursday about Yves Lavigne and an interview (the validity is being questioned by Lavigne) he had, there have been several developments. In an effort to clear the confusion, I will reiterate the actual facts what we know:

• On August 31st, an article written for the Montreal section of the Canoe.ca website was posted on the web. It can be found here in French. The article quoted statements made by MMA ref Yves Lavigne about UFC fighters Josh Koscheck, Georges St. Pierre, and other fighters. Many of the remarks reflected a non-objective viewpoint.
  
• It was then picked up by Canoe.com and placed on the main sports page which could be found here.
• On September 2nd, I read the article and translated it, posting it here on WKR. That can be found here.
• On September 3rd, Josh Koscheck responded via his personal website.
• The original Canoe.com article was updated with a notation from the writer:

Notons que suite à un malentendu, les propos de cet article ont été recueillis dans un contexte non propice à la diffusion.

Which translates to "We are noting, after a misunderstanding, that the comments in this article were collected in a way that wasn't fit for print".

• Later on that evening, Yves Lavigne responded via the Underground forum stating:

1- I NEVER gave an interview to that journalist
2- I NEVER gave an interview regarding GSP vs Koscheck
3- My lawyer is taking care of this matter.

• Canoe.com removed the article from its main sports section, however it still remains on the subsection for Montreal with the writer's note. 
• Despite his proclamations to the contrary, Yves Lavigne did give an interview about GSP vs Koscheck for CSAK, a Montreal radio station (more on that below)

My thoughts after the Jump

(The following is my OPINION based on what has been presented thus far. It is my opinion and no one elses. It does not reflect the opinion of WKR or SBNation as a whole. )

The first thing that jumps out to me is that Yves Lavigne doesn't state that he didn't say those things, he says I never gave an interview. If those words didn't come from him at all, wouldn't he deny saying them? The second thing is that Mr. Lavigne states that he "never gave an interview regarding GSP vs Koscheck". It should be noted that in the comments section of the article I wrote, someone posted an audio of, you guessed it, Yves Lavigne (or at least someone who identifies himself as Yves) on the radio talking about...GSP vs Koscheck. That audio can be found here (En Francois). WKR reader Rhufio translated the interview highlights:

1- Josh’s fight v Daley was very boring.
2- Radio asks what’s up with GSP’s most recent "boring performances". Lavigne replies that GSP failed to finish his opponents but still delivered.
3- It goes downhill at the end when the host asks Lavigne’s analysis on the fight. Lavigne says he thinks Georges is better all around.

So either Yves did give an interview about "GSP vs Koscheck" or some Mexican guy has been calling into that radio station acting like Yves Lavigne. Let me save you the trouble, Yves has given this radio station plenty of interviews and they call him their "MMA Specialist". So that's Yves giving an interview about "GSP vs Koscheck". Which contradicts what he says.

It should also be noted that this latest radio interview was given on August 31st which is the same day the printed interview was published. One should also look at the disclaimer that Canoe Sports put up on their page before they ultimately pulled the article. They never stated that it was made up, just that the information was obtained in a way unfit for printing.

For full disclosure, in regards to the author of the article Vincent Morin; he is involved in a lawsuit brought by David Loiseau. Last year, Morin wrote an article about David being denied a license. In the article, Morin says that a number of people in the organization that Loiseau is with have criminal records and thus, Loiseau has ties to organized crime. Later, Morin goes on to write "Il était un membre avoué des Hells Angels et a été visé par l’opération SharQC en 2009" (translated: He was admitted a member of the Hell's Angels and has been involved in the company SharQC in 2009.) The writer was referring to Steve Duquette as the previous paragraph was about him. Loiseau felt that people would interpret it as referring to him as the member of the Hell's Angels (and a lot of people did). The author also said that and asked for a retraction in the form of a full article. The company decided only to put a clarifying note which did not satisfy Loiseau and he brought the lawsuit saying it harmed his reputation which is still in litigation..More info on the lawsuit here.

We'll have more information as it comes.

**Updated information**

Someone on Sherdog, was kind enough to provide a transcript of a portion of the audio which follows

Yves - "Si on commence à analyser les outils avec lesquels Koscheck va se présenter contre Georges, on n'a pas le même bagage mais pas du tout. On a un Koscheck qui, on sait que c'est un lutteur olympique qui a ganné plein de médailles là-dedans, y'a gagné des gros titre, la NCAA aux États-Unis c'est l'fun, y'é très bon là-dedans. On lui a appris à boxer et à se servir de ses poings et de ses pieds de belle façon. Il s'est découvert un talent. Le talent est pas de la même échelle que Georges St-Pierre pis Georges, lors de sa première rencontre contre Koscheck, l'avait dominer dans l'élément le plus fort de Koscheck, qui est la lutte. Pis il l'avait battu à son propre jeu. Aujourd'hui, lequel des deux a évolué le plus? Moi je dis que c'est Georges St-Pierre parce que Georges a l'huilité d'aller se promener à travers le monde et d'aller se faire bardasser contre des opposants dans chaque discipline qui sont meilleurs que lui.

Basically he says if we care to analyze the tools that Koscheck will bring against Georges, we don't have the same kind of experience, not at all. Koscheck is an Olympic level wrestler who has won tons of medals in Wrestling: he also was NCAA champion, good for him, wrestling is big in the USA and he's good at it. He was also taught how to box, how to utilize his hands and feet, it's a new talent for him. However, the talent is not on the same scale as Georges' talent: George, in his first meeting with Koscheck, was able to dominate him in his strongest asset: Wrestling. He beat him at his own game. Today, who has evolved the most? I say it's Georges St-Pierre because Georges has the humility to go all around the world to get himself matched up against opponents that are better than him in each facet of fighting.