Major Changes To UFC 90
by Robert Sargent
With less than two weeks until the event, injuries have forced a number of changes to UFC 90, as Goran Reljic, Diego Sanchez and Ricardo Almeida have all withdrawn. Drew McFedries, Josh Koscheck and Dan Miller have stepped in as replacements.
While the injuries to the fighters are unfortunate, the additions of Koscheck, McFedries and Miller have ensured that the event will still be full of exciting fights.
Reljic's scheduled opponent, Thales Leites (13-1-0), will now square off against Drew "The Massacre" McFedries (7-4-0), who steps into the middleweight bout after a disappointing submission loss in September. He will look to rebound in a big way against the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu wizard, Leites.
Leites is coming off of a controversial Split Decision victory over Nate "The Great" Marquardt at UFC 85, in which Marqaurdt was penalised two points for fouls. His lone defeat in the UFC was ironically to Martin "The Hitman" Kampmann, whom Marquardt demolished in less than 90 seconds at UFC 88. Like McFedries, Leites also has something to prove.
In the case of Sanchez, he was originally slated to face Thiago "Pitbull" Alves (15-3-0) in what would have been a #1 contender's bout for the UFC Welterweight Championship. However, with a rib injury sidelining Sanchez, his long-time rival Josh Koscheck (11-2-0) has stepped in to face Alves.
Alves is coming off of the biggest wins of his career, with a pair of TKO stoppages over former #1 contender Karo "The Heat" Parisyan and former long-time UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes. However, his failure to make weight for the bout with Hughes likely impacted his immediate title shot aspirations, and he will now have to get past Koscheck.
Koscheck has won seven of his last eight fights, with the lone defeat to current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges "Rush" St. Pierre. He holds a victory, albeit a lacklustre one, over Sanchez, and is coming off of a bloodbath win over the ever-tough Chris "Lights Out" Lytle. With a victory over Alves, Koscheck will position himself for a rematch with St. Pierre; this time for the title.
Almeida was set to face off with former IFL Middleweight Champion Matt "Suave" Horwich (22-10-1), in what would have been a battle between two of the best submission fighters at the middleweight level. However, with Almeida injured, another former IFL Middleweight Champion - and the final man to hold the title - Dan Miller (9-1-0, 1 NC) will face off with Horwich.
Horwich is making his UFC debut after competing in a variety of promotions throughout his career. After his stunning knockout victory over Benji "Razor" Radach to become the first IFL Middleweight Champion, Horwich lost the title in his next bout with Ryan McGivern. He won his final IFL fight and has been inactive since.
Miller defeated McGivern at the final IFL event to become the final IFL Middleweight Champion. He has already competed once in the UFC, in a victory over Rob Kimmons at UFC Fight Night 15, and will look to make a huge statement with a victory over his fellow former IFL titleholder.
With UFC 89 and 90 coming up in back-to-back weekends, fans will be treated to a pair of very solid events, and UFC 89 will be airing for free on SpikeTV this Saturday.
