A pair of welterweights with extensive wrestling backgrounds looking for important rebound victories have been booked to meet this fall.
Former UFC title challenger Josh Koscheck (17-7 MMA, 15-7 UFC) will meet former Strikeforce title challenger Tyron Woodley (11-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at UFC 167 in November. UFC officials announced the fight booking on Thursday.
UFC 167 takes place Nov. 16 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card, featuring a welterweight title fight between champion Georges St-Pierre and top contender Johny Hendricks, airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and Facebook. Koscheck vs. Woodley is likely to be part of the main card.
Koscheck has dropped two straight fights and will be coming back from an injury that kept him out of a planned bout at UFC 163 against Demian Maia earlier this month. In May 2012, the veteran of the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" had a two-fight win streak snapped by Hendricks with a split-decision loss. He followed that up with a first-round TKO loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC 157 for the first losing skid of his career.
Woodley, who fought Nate Marquardt for the vacant Strikeforce 170-pound title in July 2012, debuted in the UFC in a big way in February when he knocked out Jay Hieron in just 36 seconds. But in June, at UFC 161, he dropped a split decision to fellow former Strikeforce standout Jake Shields in a fight that was derided for a lack of excitement.
Both Koscheck and Woodley were collegiate All-American wrestlers. Koscheck was a four-time All-American who in 2001 won an NCAA title at 174 pounds for Edinboro (Pa.) University. And Woodley was a two-time All-American and a Big 12 champion at Missouri.
With the addition, the UFC 167 card now includes:
Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks
Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald
Josh Koscheck vs. Tyron Woodley
I'm not so sure about this match up for Koscheck, could see him getting the pink slip with a loss here. Also seems as if they're going to be doing an all Welterweight main card at this event.