You never know when opportunity is going to show up on your doorstep.
Chael Sonnen disciple Mike Pierce, recently seen dispatching Paul Bradley in an entertaining three-round affair, reports via his official Twitter page that he has been selected to replace the upgraded Carlos Condit against Josh Koscheck at UFC 143 on Feb. 4, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It's on! KOS tried wiggling outta this one too, but Feb 4th he's mine. #ufc #ufc143
Pierce first turned heads in the UFC by giving eternal bridesmaid Jon Fitch one of his toughest bouts inside the Octagon, rocking the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) product late in the third round and becoming one of the rare welterweights to lose 29-28 instead of 30-27 against the perennial 170-pound contender.
But he's not through with AKA just yet.
Josh Koscheck had a pretty bad 2010, all things considered. After defeating Paul Daley for a shot at Georges St. Pierre's welterweight title, he was granted a spot opposite "GSP" coaching The Ultimate Fighter and quickly became one of the most reviled men in the sport for his constant trash talk and confrontations with Team St. Pierre's "male nurse".Things didn't improve once he actually got inside the cage with the champ, as St. Pierre showed tremendously superior striking and crushed Koscheck's orbital, keeping him out of commission until his UFC 135 bout against Matt Hughes.
While "Kos" managed to knock the fading legend out, as expected, he's no doubt looking for a definitive win over a solid contender to erase the memory of his one-sided thumping at the hands of the division king.
UFC 143 will take place on Feb. 4, 2012 and is headlined by a welterweight interim title bout between Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz. In addition, top-tier featherweight prospects Erik Koch and Dustin Poirier will go head-to-head, and bantamweight elite Scott Jorgenson will look to quell the rise of Renan "Barao".
Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for future updates to this still-developing fight card.
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