With the loss of its UFC 106 main event between UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and challenger Shane Carwin earlier this week, the UFC has bolstered the Nov. 21 card with a welterweight bout between contenders Josh Koscheck (13-4 MMA, 11-4 UFC) and Anthony Johnson (8-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC).
Koscheck posted on Twitter late Tuesday that he would appear on the card, and a source close to the event told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) overnight that Johnson will serve as his opponent.
The UFC, though, has yet to officially announced the fight, which serves as the night's co-main event.
UFC 106 takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view. Following the loss of Lesnar vs. Carwin (due to a month-long illness suffered by Lesnar), the UFC promoted the co-headliner of Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin to the night's headliner.
Koscheck had been slated to return to at UFC Fight Night 20 with young prospect Mike Pierce. As MMAjunkie.com first reported last week, verbal agreements were in place for the fight. (Pierce is expected to remain on the card but with a new opponent.)
Instead, Koscheck (and Johnson) take the UFC 106 fight on less than a month's notice.
Koscheck looks to re-establish himself among the welterweight division's top contenders after a recent 2-2 stretch in his past four fights. In his most recent contest, Koscheck earned a quick TKO win over Frank Trigg at UFC 103 in September. He also suffered losses to Paulo Thiago (TKO) and Thiago Alves (unanimous decision) during that stretch.
Johnson, meanwhile, is coming off a successful but somewhat disappointing TKO win over Yoshiyuki Yoshida at this past weekend's UFC 104 event. Johnson would have won a $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus for the 41-second knockout win, but he was declared ineligible because he failed to make weight for the show (and weighed 176 pounds), which he partially blamed on a knee injury that affected his weight cutting. The former collegiate wrestler and exciting stand-up fighter is now 4-1 in his past five fights; the lone loss was a controversial TKO defeat to Kevin Burns caused by an illegal eye poke that the referee didn't see.
Koscheck posted on Twitter late Tuesday that he would appear on the card, and a source close to the event told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) overnight that Johnson will serve as his opponent.
The UFC, though, has yet to officially announced the fight, which serves as the night's co-main event.
UFC 106 takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view. Following the loss of Lesnar vs. Carwin (due to a month-long illness suffered by Lesnar), the UFC promoted the co-headliner of Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin to the night's headliner.
Koscheck had been slated to return to at UFC Fight Night 20 with young prospect Mike Pierce. As MMAjunkie.com first reported last week, verbal agreements were in place for the fight. (Pierce is expected to remain on the card but with a new opponent.)
Instead, Koscheck (and Johnson) take the UFC 106 fight on less than a month's notice.
Koscheck looks to re-establish himself among the welterweight division's top contenders after a recent 2-2 stretch in his past four fights. In his most recent contest, Koscheck earned a quick TKO win over Frank Trigg at UFC 103 in September. He also suffered losses to Paulo Thiago (TKO) and Thiago Alves (unanimous decision) during that stretch.
Johnson, meanwhile, is coming off a successful but somewhat disappointing TKO win over Yoshiyuki Yoshida at this past weekend's UFC 104 event. Johnson would have won a $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus for the 41-second knockout win, but he was declared ineligible because he failed to make weight for the show (and weighed 176 pounds), which he partially blamed on a knee injury that affected his weight cutting. The former collegiate wrestler and exciting stand-up fighter is now 4-1 in his past five fights; the lone loss was a controversial TKO defeat to Kevin Burns caused by an illegal eye poke that the referee didn't see.
