With Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin delayed until January 2010 and Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort reportedly moved from that same UFC 108 card, UFC has seen some of its major match plans suffer. In the fallout of such fights getting postponed, UFC has confirmed some noteworthy fights for the end of 2009.
Replacing Lesnar-Carwin on UFC 106 is an anticipated bout between welterweight standouts Anthony Johnson and Josh Koscheck. With both fighters coming off knockout victories, the fight pits the explosive–and extremely strong–Johnson against Koscheck, the owner of some of the best wrestling skills in MMA. Barring an unimpressive overall performance, the winner would move closer to a title shot against seemingly-unstoppable Welterweight Champioin Georges St. Pierre.
Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin moves to the top of the UFC 106 show, with Koscheck-Johnson sliding into the co-main-event slot.
Meanwhile, a rumor suggests “TUF” contestant Kimbo Slice will fight Houston Alexander on the live December finale. Both fighters, who are presumably set to meet at a 215 pound catchweight, saw their excessive hype come tumbling down with definitive losses–Slice was quickly knocked out by Seth Petruzelli on a CBS Elite XC event and then got dominated by Roy Nelson in a “TUF” bout, while Alexander suffered three consecutive UFC losses–all via first round stoppage–to Thiago Silva, James Irvin and Eric Schafer. Alexander won his most recent fight, a non-UFC bout, against Sherman Prendergast.