Diego Sanchez has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 135 co-main event bout on Sept. 24 against UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes due to a broken hand.
Stepping in for Sanchez with less than three weeks until fight time will be American Kickboxing Academy’s Josh Koscheck, who last fought in Dec. 2010 when he lost a five round unanimous decision to UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre for the title.
The replacement was confirmed by the UFC on Tuesday.
Koscheck (15-5) suffered a broken orbital bone in the fight and was forced to undergo corrective surgery. He was on a three fight win streak prior to the bout with St-Pierre, scoring consecutive wins over Frank Trigg, Anthony Johnson and Paul Daley.
Hughes (45-8) has not fought since losing to B.J. Penn via a quick 21-second knockout at UFC 123 last November. Like Koscheck, Hughes had also won three straight prior to his last fight.
UFC 135 will take place at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo., and is headlined with a light heavyweight title fight between defending champion Jon Jones and number one contender Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. For the full UFC 135 fight card see our Upcoming Events page.