Jose Aldo vs. Erik Koch Title Fight Headlines UFC 149 In Calgary

[No More Sorrow]

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 (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | 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.

Wasn't really expecting this, Thought for sure Jose Aldo was going to be moving to UFC 147. So i guess that means that Wandy/Vitor is going to main event UFC 147 I'm starting to wonder if they're going to skip making the June Brazil show a PPV & just make it a smaller show for the TUF: Brazil finals and air it on Fox or something. Guess this also means Jones-Henderson is a no go for 149.

 

[Edgeomatic]

Really should have given that spot to someone else.

 

[No More Sorrow]

Still am clueless on how Koch got this title shot honestly, I mean he's an alright fighter but no way he should be maineventing this show against Aldo, he's not ready for that. Only way i see him winning is if Aldo underestimates him and gets caught, but i honestly can't see that happening.

I guess this also shows how WEAK the UFC's Featherweight division is.

 

[Slim]

Which is why Dana needs to get over his erection of rematches and sed Edgar down to featherweight to challenge Aldo as there are plenty of lightweights that can challenge Bendo... including Pettis.

 

[No More Sorrow]

Hopefully once Bendo beats Edgar again he'll just drop down, even he's said he would and that a fight with Aldo is inevitable. I'd take him over Aldo as well, I'm HOPING all of this happens before the end of the year.

Here's the updated card for UFC 149 now

Main Card
Featherweight Championship Bout: Jose Aldo vs. Erik Koch
Heavyweight bout: Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cheick Kongo
Welterweight bout: Thiago Alves vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Middleweight bout: Nick Ring vs. Court McGee

Prelims
Featherweight bout: George Roop vs. Antonio Carvalho
Bantamweight bout: Bryan Caraway vs. Mitch Gagnon
Lightweight bout: Mitch Clarke vs. Anton Kuivanen

More fights to be announced soon.

 

[Slim]

I see Aldo beating Edgar... you saw how hard it is to take Aldo down? Plus Aldo is awesome at striking.

 

[No More Sorrow]

I don't know, it's hard to call really. I Just want to see the Featherweights get actual competition or see the UFC merge the Featherweights and Lightweights.

 

[Slim]

Aldo had that fight against Mendes and.... with the exception of that time Aldo held on to the fence, Mendes could not get him down. He just has incredible takedown defense.

 

[The Cork]

Koch is also what I would describe Dana as for making this shitty fight.

I hate Aldo enough as it is, without him fighting complete nobodies.

 

[Troy]

I had to look up who Erik Koch was because the name didn't ring a bell. Having such a weak opponent for Aldo shows how ridiculous it is that UFC have four divisions covered by thirty pounds. Have a 155 division and then a 140 division and that is it. Will ensure that there is a lot more competition in every division. Hopefully Edgar does drop down after Bendo beats him easily again and faces Aldo.