Champ Jose Aldo vs. Erik Koch title fight headlines UFC 149 in Calgary
A featherweight title fight between champion Jose Aldo (21-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) and challenger Erik Koch (13-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) will headline July's UFC 149 event in Calgary.
MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the plans with multiple sources, who said bout agreements will soon be finalized.
At a recent press conference, UFC president Dana White suggested Aldo could be moved from UFC 149 to UFC 147 in Brazil, but a source close to the fighter told MMAjunkie.com the champ wouldn't be ready in time for the earlier date.
Instead, Aldo remains on the Canadian card, which takes place July 21 at Calgary's Scotiabank Saddledome. The main card airs on pay-per-view, and FX and Facebook are expected to carry the prelims.
Multiple reports recently have attached Koch's name with the Aldo title fight, though UFC 147 was considered the likely date. Just today, though, Globo reported Aldo would fight at UFC 149, not UFC 147, though a finalized opponent wasn't identified.
Officials announced Aldo as a UFC 149 participant during the kickoff press conference for the event this past month. However, when a middleweight title fight between champion Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen was moved from UFC 147 to UFC 148 this past week, White said the Brazilian-born Aldo could be moved to UFC 147 to fight in his home country. But he now remains on the UFC 149 lineup and looks to defend his belt for the second time on Canadian soil.
Aldo enters UFC 149 with a 14-fight win streak. Since ruling the WEC's featherweight division and moving over to the UFC, the well-rounded Brazilian has racked up title defenses over Mark Hominick (in Toronto at the record-breaking UFC 129 event), Kenny Florian and Chad Mendes. Overall, the 25-year-old is a remarkable 11-0 under the Zuffa banner.
Koch, meanwhile, competes for the first time since September, when he earned a dominant unanimous-decision victory over "The Ultimate Fighter 12" champion Jonathan Brookins at UFC Fight Night 25. The 23-year-old's only career loss came to recent UFC title challenger Chad Mendes at WEC 47. Since then, "New Breed" is 4-0, which included a first-round knockout of Raphael Assuncao at UFC 128 in his promotional debut.
The Duke Roufus-trained Koch had been slated to fight fellow contender Dustin Poirier in February at UFC 143, but he ultimately was forced off the card with an injury.
