UFC announced tonight that Diego Sanchez tore cartilage in his ribs and has been pulled out of his Oct. 25 match with Thiago Alves at UFC 90: Silva vs. Cote. Luckily, they have a fellow 170-pounder who was willing to accept the challenge.

Enter Josh Koscheck, who will now face the 21-4 Alves. Koscheck (13-2) was training for a Dec. 10 bout against Yoshiyuki Yoshida, but wanted to take this fight. He already has wins over Chris Lytle and Dustin Hazelett in 2008 and is looking for his first welterweight title shot. He will face a white-hot fighter in Alves, who has won six in a row, including Ws over Matt Hughes and Karo Parisyan.

Alves told UFC.com, "Josh Koscheck is a great fighter and I think he’s an even better matchup for me. I’m looking forward to fighting him, and I’m gonna knock him out.”

It's interesting that Sanchez and Koscheck are once again crossed with each other, as the two were housemates on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter and did battle at UFC 69 in April of 2007. Koscheck got the victory via unanimous decision that night, perhaps fueled by this little incident that happened at the weigh-ins:

Josh Nason has written and maintained Ropes, Ring, and Cage since 2007. He can be reached at josh@ropesringandcage.com.