UFC President Dana White made the announcement via his Twitter account earlier this evening:
Koscheck vs Johnny Hendricks is on for FOX!!!
This is an excellent matchup and should clear up some confusion in a division that’s seen a ton of changes over the past six months. Johny Hendricks (12-1) is coming off a spectacular KO win against Jon Fitch back at UFC 141 where he was a sizable underdog although I did pick Hendricks for the upset. Hendricks is (7-1) in the UFC with the lone loss coming via unanimous decision against Rick Story in December 2010. He has put together three straight wins with two of them coming via TKO/KO.
Josh Koscheck (17-5) is coming off a controversial split decision win over Mike Pierce at UFC 143. I scored the fight for Pierce, but it was a pretty close fight nonetheless. Koscheck has won five out of his last six fights with the lone loss being his second defeat at the hands of Georges St. Pierre in his title fight back at UFC 124. A win for Hendricks here could put him in line for a title shot, or he could face the winner of the Jake Ellenberger vs. Diego Sanchez fight to secure a cut and dry number one contender spot in the division.
The winner of that fight could face the interim champion in Carlos Condit if Georges St. Pierre is not able to fight by the end of this year.
The UFC on FOX 3 event will take place in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on May 5th, and will be held in the IZOD center. The tentative UFC on FOX 3 card is as follows:
- Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller
- Josh Koscheck vs. Johny Hendricks
- Pat Barry vs. Lavar Johnson
- John Dodson vs. Darren Uyenoyama
- Tony Ferguson vs. Dennis Hallman
- Pascal Krauss vs. John Hathaway
- Danny Castillo vs. John Cholish
- Mike Massenzio vs. Karlos Vemola
- Louis Gaudinot vs. John Lineker