Featherweight Erik Koch (10-1) had been scheduled to face Josh Grispi at the upcoming WEC 52 event, but Grispi was tagged by the UFC to face Jose Aldo at UFC 125 on January 1st.
Koch will stay on the WEC 52 card in Vegas and will now face newcomer Francisco Rivera (5-0) on the main card.
WEC 52 will take place on Nov. 11 at The Pearl at The Palms Casino & Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main card of the event will be broadcast live on the Versus network.
Koch bounced back from his first professional loss to Chad Mended at WEC 47 to submit Bendy Casimir at WEC 49 in June. He’s 2-1 under the WEC banner having defeated Jameel Massouh in his debut at WEC 45 last December. Koch has won seven of his bouts via submission.
Newcomer Rivera has fought for various romotions such as the Called Out MMA and Call To Arms promotions. This year Rivera has fought only once defeating Fernando Bernstein by TKO in just 30 seconds of the first round of their fight. Three of his five victories have come by T(KO).
WEC general manager Reed Harris confirmed the news on Wednesday.