The announcement of Velazquez withdrawing from the fight will leave many disappointed as the fight guaranteed fireworks. All is not lost, as a replacement has been found in tough Frenchman Cheick Kongo, who is coming off a TKO win over Dan Evensen at UFC 87 in Minneapolis.
"We were offered Kongo by Joe and we accepted the fight. We were just waiting for Kongo to get his signed bout agreement back before we could confirm it," clarified Demetriades, adding, "Everything else is the same. Mus will be fighting on the main card, on pay-per-view. It's a good fight."
I'll tell you what...the UFC is not cutting former Cage Rage HW champion Mustapha Al-Turk ANY slack as he plans to make his UFC debut. First, he was going to face Cain Velasquez whom everyone believes could be the future of the HW division. However, with Velasquez pulling out of the fight with a knee injury...Al-Turk now must face the dangerous French striker in Cheick Kongo. Al-Turk is primarily a grappler with heavy hands, while Kongo is a striker that's improved his ground game leaps and bounds in the past year or so. The UFC is quietly building the once shallow HW division into a division with some depth and legitimate contenders.
Props: MMAWeekly
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