Kos steps in for Sanchez against Alves
October 14th, 2008, 4:39 pm · Post a Comment · posted by CARLOS ARIAS
JOSH KOSCHECK
Welterweight contender Josh Koscheck is stepping in to replace injured Diego Sanchez against Thiago “The Pitbull” Alves at UFC 90 on Oct. 25 at Allstate Arena in Chicago, Ill.m on pay-per-view.
Sanchez was forced to withdraw from the bout due to torn rib cartilage.
“There is nothing worse than having a great fight and then having one of the fighters drop out the last second,” UFC president Dana White said. “But the one thing the UFC has proven time and time again is our ability to replace fights with ones as good or better than the original fight, and we’ve done it again with the highly-ranked Josh Koscheck stepping up to replace Diego Sanchez against welterweight wrecking machhine Thiago Alves. Hats off to Josh and Thiago, as not many fighters would agree to a matchup this tough on such short notice.”
Alves (21-4), of Fortaleza, Brazil, is riding a six-fight winning streak, which includes kayo victories over Matt Hughes and Karo Parisyan.
“Josh Koscheck is a great fighter and I think he’s an even better matchup for me,” Alves said. “I’m looking forward to fighting him, and I’m gonna knock him out.”
Koscheck (13-2), of Fresno, a 2001 NCAA wrestling champion, has recorded back-to-back victories over Dustin Hazlett and Chris Lytle since losing a decision to Georges St. Pierre in 2007.
“I think he’s a tough opponent,” Koscheck said. “He’s on a tear right now in the UFC and for me to step up and fight him, I think it’s gonna be an exciting fight. I’ve been training since Chris Lytle, I haven’t taken any time off, and he’s a tough guy, so I’ve got to come in and fight him at my ‘A’ game.”
UFC 90 is headlined by UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s title defense against Patrick Cote.
