Ricardo Lamas Replaces Erik Koch for UFC 143 Bout Against Dustin Poirier

Seems like UFC 143 stars are prone to taking an arrow to the knee. Now that I have you Skyrim fans hooked, the UFC announced that Erik Koch has been injured and will not be able to compete on the Super Bowl weekend UFC 143 card against Dustin Poirier. Ricardo Lamas has stepped in and will take on "The Diamond" in a bout that will boost either man to the elite levels of the featherweight division.

Lamas is 2-0 in the UFC, where he decided to drop from lightweight to featherweight after a KO loss to Yuri Alcantara at WEC 53. He defeated Matt Grice with a head kick and punching blitz at UFC on Versus 4 and choked out Cub Swanson on his way to "Submission of the Night" honors at UFC on Fox 1. Poirier took a decision loss to Danny Castillo at WEC 50 and proceeded to go on a four-fight win streak. With a TKO over Zack Micklewright at WEC 52, decision victories over Josh Grispi and Jason Young in his first two UFC outings, and an impressive d'arce choke victory over Pablo Garza at UFC on Fox 1, Poirier has catapulted to the top of the heap at 145 and is nearing a title shot.

Despite a few injuries and opponent swaps, UFC 143 still looks strong on paper and will surely deliver some exciting bouts. Josh Koscheck vs. Mike Pierce will go down after Carlos Condit took the main event spot from an injured Georges St. Pierre. Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz is now the main event for the UFC interim welterweight strap. With a little over a month until the event, we can only hope that no news is good news.