Koscheck vs. Johnson

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According to Sherdog:

Josh Koscheck and Anthony Johnson have verbally agreed to fight each other at UFC 106 on Nov. 21 in Las Vegas, Sherdog.com has learned from a source close to the bout.

Koscheck announced Tuesday on his Twitter account that he would be fighting Nov. 21 in Las Vegas in a co-main event fight.

This is a great fight.  I am not sure if it will help a lot with PPV buys from the idolized casual fan, but the fight makes sense for both fighters and it should be an exciting scrap as well.  For Koscheck this is a much more significant fight than Mike Pierce would have been.  Koscheck had almost nothing to gain from beating Pierce who as of right now is known for his lay and pray upset over highly regarded, but not well known prospect Brock Larson. 

Johnson's size, style, and athleticism have made him a very popular fighter and he possesses a lot of upside.  However, Johnson has been hand fed opponents that allow him to highlight his skill set.  Apparently missing weight by six pounds has ended that luxury as Koscheck is a top welterweight and Johnson's first true test in MMA.  This is an enormous opportunity for him and a win here would fly him up the welterweight ladder.

The issue that jumps out at me is Johnson just fought.  Granted his fight only lasted only 41 seconds and I am not sure he was touched, but a month is a very short time.  Especially with a fighter that just went through a full training camp and killed his body making weight.  Even if the injury was the reason for the difficulty cutting does that mean the knee (I think Knee) is fine and is he capable of following that weight cut difficulty by going right back into training?  I do not have a problem with fighters fighting on a quick turnaround, just curious when one of the fighters has to cut down so much weight.  On the other hand, maybe since he is already in training weight the cut will not be a huge problem.

Either way this is a great fight and both fighters know how much a win can improve their status within the division.  If this fight gets signed consider me a buyer for UFC 106.

P.S. Along with the Fitch/Alves fight the WKR Welterweight Tournament had this fight as well.  I gaurantee the fan voting during the preview for UFC 106 is different than what the tournament produced.