UFC 195 in Las Vegas, the January 2nd card headlined by Robbie Lawler defending his UFC Welterweight Championship against Carlos Condit, just got a second fight added according to MMAFighting.com. In the lightweight division, Erik Koch, the training partner of former champion Anthony Pettis, will be returning to action after over a year and a half away from the cage to fight Drew Dober. With Pettis Fighting a Eddie Alvarez 15 days later underneath T.J. Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz, he’ll now get to see the benefits of one of his primary sparring partners peaking his camp alongside him.
Can't wait! Jan 2nd I get to fight in my favorite place to fight, Vegas!!!! Gonna whoop ass and take some names! Back to the top!
— Erik Jon Koch (@NEWBREED04) September 15, 2015
Koch was last seen on May 10th of last year, when he was stopped by Daron Cruickshank in the first round in a featured fight n the undercard of the famous Matt Brown vs. Erick Silva fight. Dober is best known as the victim of the phantom stoppage earlier this year in Brazil when referee Eduardo Herdy mistakenly thought he tapped out to a choke where he had already gotten out of danger.
Koch had been a top 10 contender at featherweight for a few years, including being given a shot at champion Jose Aldo, but he was more the right guy at the right time than someone who had won a top contender’s match. It fell apart due to injuries to both men, and after losing two in a row (to Ricardo Lamas in a title eliminator and later Dustin Poirier), Koch moved up, saying he was no longer young enough to make 145 pounds. He looked great in his UFC lightweight debut, starching Rafaello Oliveira in 84 seconds, but lost to Cruickshank in his next fight after eating a head kick.
