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UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch was not joking when he revealed less then 24 hours ago that he would be getting a "bigger, better" fight after his UFC 106 opponent, Ricardo Almeida, was forced out of their bout due to a knee injury suffered in training.
The UFC decided to not seek another opponent for Fitch at UFC 106 and scrapped him from the Nov. 21 event, however, the UFC had big plans in mind for Fitch.
For the second time in his career, Fitch will be pitted against Thiago Alves at UFC 107 on Dec. 12 in Memphis TN. Alves' original UFC 107 opponent, Paulo Thiago, will be booked for another bout.
News of Alves stepping in to face Fitch was first reported by MMAJunkie.com, and UFC President Dana White later confirmed the report yesterday at a pre-event press conference for UFC 104.
Fitch and Alves' first meeting occurred at UFC Fight Night 5 in June 2006, where Fitch walked away with a second-round TKO victory over Alves.
Fitch (19-3) has re-emerged as a contender after recently picking up back to back wins against Akihiro Gono and, most recently, Paulo Thiago at UFC 100 in July. He previously suffered just the second loss of his career against UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. Fitch holds an impressive 10-1 mark in the UFC, with notable Octagon wins over Brock Larson, Chris Wilson and Diego Sanchez.
Alves (16-5) is coming off a loss against UFC welterweight champion St. Pierre at UFC 100 in July. Prior to the loss, he had won seven straight fights in order to earn a title shot, which included wins over the likes of Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck. Since entering the Octagon for the first time in Oct. 2005, Alves has put together a solid 9-3 record.
UFC 107 is headlined by a UFC lightweight title bout between current champ B.J. Penn and top contender Diego Sanchez. In addition, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will take on Cheick Kongo, and Kenny Florian and Clay Guida will face each other in a lightweight bout.
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