Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes will face Josh Koscheck in the co-main event of UFC 135.
UFC President Dana White confirmed the news on Tuesday via Twitter.
“Diego broke his hand, so Hughes will now fight Koscheck,” White posted.
Hughes was to face former lightweight title contender Diego Sanchez, but plans for the bout were scrapped after Sanchez was forced off the card with a broken hand sustained in training.
Immediately after the news broke on Sanchez’s injury, Koscheck wasted no time throwing his name in the hat of potential opponents for the UFC Hall of Famer.
“I’m a big name fighter, so [Hughes] can take that and run with it,” Koscheck said in an interview with USA Today. “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.”
While Hughes is coming off a first round KO loss to longtime nemesis B.J. Penn, Koscheck is finally ready to make his return after suffering a broken orbital bone in a five-round drubbing at the hands of Georges St-Pierre at UFC 124.
In a post on Twitter, Hughes said that he accepted Koscheck’s challenge. He even took things a step further by also accepting to face Jon Fitch, who hold the rank right behind St-Pierre in the welterweight division.
“I said “yes” to facing either Koscheck or Fitch at UFC 135,” Hughes posted. “I just got off the phone with [Dana White], and it looks like Josh for the 24th.”
UFC 135 will take place at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado on September 24. Hughes and Koscheck will serve as the co-main event for the anticipated light heavyweight title bout between Jon Jones and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com