(Listen to the first thing that Diego says in this video. Is it just me, or is the dude starting to sound like Kevin from ‘The Office’?)
Less than three weeks before his scheduled meeting with Matt Hughes at UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage (September 24th, Denver), Diego Sanchez was pulled from the event yesterday due to a broken hand suffered in training. Coming off back-to-back decision victories over Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann — both of which netted him Fight of the Night awards — Sanchez released a statement explaining just how bummed he is:
“I am heartbroken that I have to inform MMA fans that I cannot fight Matt Hughes at UFC 135 later this month. I have never physically felt more prepared to compete than I felt for this fight, which makes this even more painful for me. While I do not know right now when I will return, I want to assure all of the fans out there that I will be back in the Octagon as soon as I am 100-percent healthy.”
But in the distance, a savior appears…
Shortly after Sanchez’s pull-out was announced, fellow welterweight contender Josh Koscheck confirmed that he had accepted an offer to replace “The Dream” against Hughes. Koscheck, who hasn’t competed since his crushing loss to Georges St. Pierre last December, was previously rumored to return in November as a middleweight. But it looks like his timetable just got a lot shorter — that is, if Hughes is willing to accept the fight, which he hasn’t yet. As Koscheck told USA Today:
It’s a fight that I’ve been wanting for a long time. Now we’ve just got to wait and see if Matt Hughes will accept the fight. So we’re waiting on him…
I’m healthy. I have no reason not to accept this fight if Matt Hughes wants it. It’s like Dana White always says: Your job is to fight no matter what. I’m a fighter, and whether I’ve got to fight on a week’s notice or six months’, doesn’t matter. My job is to go out there and fight and win…
I’m just looking for this opportunity, and hopefully Matt Hughes will step up and take the fight for the fans and the UFC…
I’m a big-name fighter, so he can take that and run with it. I put it out there. I told UFC I’d do it, and if Matt Hughes is man enough, he’ll step up and do it…
He wants big-name fighters. He’s getting near the end of his career. I think he’ll take the fight because it’s good for the sport and good for the UFC.
We’ll update you when the fight is a done deal. So what do you think? Is Koscheck vs. Hughes a satisfying replacement for Sanchez vs. Hughes?