Mere hours after Josh Koscheck was forced to withdraw from his UFC 109 rematch with Paulo Thiago due to injury, Koscheck’s American Kickboxing Academy teammate Mike “Quick” Swick has stepped in to face Thiago. The welterweight bout will be part of the event’s televised main card.

Koscheck received criticism for a post-fight speech following his UFC 106 victory over Anthony “Rumble” Johnson when he inadvertently insulted Swick. In an interesting turn of events, Swick will now look to gain a measure of revenge for Koscheck’s prior loss when he battles Thiago.

Swick (14-3-0) was on the verge of a title shot until he was soundly defeated by current #1 contender Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy at UFC 105. Koscheck later berated Hardy – and mistakenly insulted Swick in the process – as having “never fought anyone [of note]” before clarifying that he had meant that Hardy had never fought anyone with his (Koscheck’s) skill set.

Ironically, Swick will now be fighting on Koscheck’s behalf when he faces Thiago, who knocked Koscheck out at UFC 95 in one of the more shocking upsets of the year. A victory for Swick would place him back in the title hunt. Swick has lost just one time since dropping down to the welterweight level, but the division is extremely competitive and a single loss can end title hopes in an instant.

The welterweight bout will be part of UFC 109: “Relentless,” which is headlined by a light heavyweight bout between UFC Hall of Famers Randy “The Natural” Couture and Mark “The Hammer” Coleman.