Josh Koscheck: 3 Possible Opponents for His Middleweight Debut at UFC 139

Former welterweight title challenger Josh Koscheck is finally making his return, and he has plans of doing it in the middleweight division.

The 33-year-old announced the news via his Twitter on Sunday:

"

My next fight is in SAN JOSE cali. NOV 19th Good chance fighting at 185lbs. :) should know real soon who.

"

Koscheck's last fight was a rematch against UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 124, where Koscheck lost a five-round unanimous decision and was forced to sit on the sidelines due to a broken orbital bone suffered during the bout.

After a UFC career fought almost entirely at welterweight, Koscheck would make for a very intriguing addition to the middleweight division. The last time he fought there was on The Ultimate Fighter's season one finale.

No. 3: Winner of Rousimar Palhares vs. Dan Miller

Middleweights Dan Miller and Rousimar Palhares will be fighting each other at UFC 134, and both could make reasonably good opponents for Koscheck at the event in San Jose on November 19.

Miller has a had a tough road in the UFC and has gone 2-4 in his last six fights. His losses include Michael Bisping, Nate Marquardt, Chael Sonnen, and Demian Maia.

Those are the best of the best when it comes to middleweight contenders, so Koscheck would have to prove it as well if they fought.

Palhares is 5-2 in the UFC, with three wins by kneebar and heelhook. His only losses in the UFC were to Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson. It would be an interesting grappling match if these two eventually met inside the Octagon.

No. 2: Vitor Belfort

Vitor Belfort appeared to be back in full form when he blasted away Yoshihiro Akiyama in the first round of their fight at UFC 133.

In this fight Belfort was reminiscent of "The Phenom" of the early days of the UFC, in which he became the UFC 12 heavyweight tournament champion at the age of 19.

Belfort rebounded in the fight after suffering a devastating loss versus Anderson Silva earlier this year. That victory put him back into the top contenders in the middleweight division, and Koscheck could be a great challenge for the 34-year-old.

Belfort's weakness has always been wrestlers, so this would give him a chance to prove it's anything but that.

No. 1: Stephan Bonnar

It's no secret that these two fighters don't necessarily like each other after Stephan Bonnar used a cartoon version of Koscheck for a t-shirt label called "Trash Talking Kids."

Koscheck spoke to Bleacher Report about the possible matchup and the controversy:

"

He's never got any paperwork from my attorneys or my managers to do this shirt. He's never contacted me, and he was told not to do it. He put me in breach, and I had no other choice. He put my back against the wall, and I didn't have any other reason to do this—or choice—and there's never been a problem, but now he created a problem.

Now, Stephan Bonnar is calling me out, and it's absurd. That p***y really needs to think about who he's calling out because when he becomes a B-level fighter, then I'll take him serious.

But right now, he's not even a B-level fighter, so I'm not taking him serious.

If he does want to fight me and run his mouth and continue to run his mouth personally, then we can settle this. I'll fight him at 185 for the fans because I know there's a lot of people out there right now [for whom] this is a big deal, and I'll make that my comeback fight hopefully in October. All day long, that'd be a nice, easy comeback fight. I'd like to have a nice warmup fight, and Stephan Bonnar would be that fight.

"

If both agree to a fight at middleweight, it could be one of the most anticipated fights in the second half of 2011.