The fights being announced for UFC 167 in November are making mixed martial arts fans excited at the possibility for a night of great fights. Already announced for the event is a UFC welterweight title fight between Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks, as well as another welterweight contest between Rory MacDonald and Robbie Lawler. Add in the latest announcement involving Josh Koscheck and Tyron Woodley and the UFC is looking to shake up the rankings in the welterweight division.
Koscheck, a former competitor on The Ultimate Fighter is 17-7 in his professional career and will be making his 23rd appearance inside the Octagon. He is 15-7 inside the Octagon, but is currently riding a two fight losing streak and has lost three of his last five overall. The talented wrestler was upset in February by Lawler and suffered a split decision loss to Hendricks prior to that loss. At 35, Koscheck is at the tail end of his MMA career and won’t be able to sniff another title shot if he loses to Woodley.
Woodley will be making just his third appearance in the UFC after a stellar run with Strikeforce that saw him compete against Nate Marquardt for the vacant welterweight title in his last fight there. He lost that fight, the first of his career and rebounded in his UFC debut by beating Jay Hieron before losing to Jake Shields in June. Woodley has a lot of talent in the MMA game, but will need to beat the UFC veteran to end any idea that he was only successful in Strikeforce because he was fighting less-talented fighters.
When these two men square off in the center of the Octagon at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, they will be taking part in the celebration of the 20th year of existence for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Who will have their hand raised will depend on who can take and dish out more strikes.
