With Erik Koch (13-1) injured, fellow featherweight Ricardo Lamas (11-2) has stepped as a replacement at UFC 143.

Koch was forced off the card on Tuesday due to an undisclosed injury he suffered in training camp.

Lamas, a former WEC fighter, looks for his third straight win in the UFC following a TKO victory over Matt Grice and a submission win over Cub Swanson. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, the Illinois-based fighter is now 5-1 over his past six fights, and the lone loss came to Yuri Alcantara in the WEC's final show.

Poirier hammered Pablo Garza in the standup portion of their UFC on FOX 1 fight this past month before coaxing a tap-out by D'Arce choke in the second round. Previously, he outpointed savvy striker Jason Young at UFC 131 and handed near-contender Josh Grispi his first octagon loss at UFC 125. He's now won four straight fights, including one in his former home, the WEC.

"UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit" takes place Feb. 4 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

UFC officials announced today that a featherweight bout between Erik Koch (13-1) and Dustin Poirier (11-1) had to be scrapped because of an injured fighter.

Koch has been forced to pull from the fight because of an injury suffered during training for the UFC 143 bout.   Most recently, Koch appeared at UFC Fight Night 25, where he defeated "The Ultimate Fighter 12" winner Jonathan Brookins via unanimous decision. In his inaugural appearance in the octagon, Koch came out victorious with a first round knock out over Rafael Assuncao at UFC 128.

His former opponent Poirier, who also had a successful 2011, starting the with a bang,  mading his first appearance Jan 1 at UFC 125 where he quickly made his presence know with a first round TKO over Josh Grispi.    Poirier was on a seven fight win streak until falling victim to Danny Castillo in the WEC.  Poirier has since won four straight and currently is waiting for the fifth.

"UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit" takes place Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

After capturing his first victory in the octagon, UFC match-makers are quick to put newcomer John Albert (7-1) back to work.

UFC officials  made the announcement today that the bout between John Albert and Ivan Menjivar will take place at UFC on FUEL TV 1.

"The Ultimate Fighter" contestant was a member of Team Bisping during season 14 who fell short at the quarterfinal bracket against season winner, John Dodson.  Looking to make an impression, Albert came out of the Season Finale with quick 69-second knock out of Dustin Pague.

However, he will be facing veteran fighter "The Pride of El Salvador," Ivan Menjivar (23-8).  Menjivar has had nothing but success since returning to the UFC  with two straight wins over Charlie Valencia and most recently, Nick Pace at UFC  133.

UFC on FUEL TV 1 has been speculated to take place Feb. 15 in Omaha, Neb.

Gilbert Melendez and Gegard Mousasi earned the largest disclosed paydays at this past weekend's "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal" event, with each netting $150,000.

The total disclosed payroll for the Dec. 17 event was $580,000.

The full "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal" payouts included:

Gilbert Melendez: $150,000 (no win bonus)
def. Jorge Masvidal: $23,000

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos: $66,000 (includes $33,000 win bonus)
def. Hiroko Yamanaka: $8,000

Gegard Mousasi: $150,000 (no win bonus)
def. Ovince St. Preux: $17,000

K.J. Noons: $65,000 ($30,000 win bonus)
def. Billy Evangelista: $20,000

Caros Fodor: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus)
def. Justin Wilcox: $12,000

Roger Bowling: $14,200 ($7,000 win bonus)*
def. Jerron Peoples: $1,600*

Devin Cole: $12,000 ($6,000 win bonus)
def. Gabriel Salinas-Jones: $3,000

Eddie Mendez: $6,000 ($3,000 win bonus)
def. Fernando Gonzalez: $3,000

Herman Terrado: $6,000 ($3,000 win bonus)
def. Chris Brown: $3,000

* - Peoples surrendered $200 of his $2,000 show money to Bowling and $200 to the CSAC because he missed weight

With all speculations aside, Alistair Overeem (35-11) will face Brock Lesnar (5-2) on Dec. 30.

After issues with a recent Nevada State Athletic Commission-mandated drug test, Overeem  finally has taken and passed the appropriate test .

The five-round non-title fight, which will determine a No. 1 contender in the UFC's heavyweight division, was thrown into doubt this past week when Overeem missed an out-of-competition test the commission ordered him to undergo on Nov. 17.

Upon initially hearing of the out-of-competition test requested by the NSAC, Overeem took a steroid test administered by his personal doctor on Nov. 23, which came back clean. However, it was a blood test, and the commission requires a urine test.

As part of a conditional license that was issued on Dec. 12, Overeem was required to fly to London on Dec. 13 for a drug test at at a facility affiliated with Quest Diagnostics, which the NSAC often uses for drug tests conducted in Nevada. The results came back clean today.

"UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem" takes place next Friday, Dec. 29, at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Joey Beltran and Lavar Johnson are scheduled to meet at UFC on Fox 2 on January 28, 2012 at the United Center in Chicago, Ill.

Beltran (13-6) is a six-fight UFC veteran and most recently lost a decision to promotion newcomer Stipe Miocic at UFC 136.  "The Mexicutioner" is known for his all-out battles that abandon's game plan, but going 1-3 in his last four showings puts Beltran in a must-win situation.

Johnson (15-5) is debuting in the Octagon after a 30 month stint in Strikeforce, yet oddly enough Johnson is entering the promotion on a two-fight losing skid.  A heavy-handed knockout artist, Johnson's weakness tends to be in submission defense as four of his five defeats came by way of submission.  The American Kickboxing Academy teammate will look to make a memorable entrance in the UFC, and a victory over a very tough Beltran will unquestionably complete that task.

Event results from Strikeforce: "Melendez vs. Masvidal", which took place at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, Calif., on Sat., Dec. 17, 2011.

Main Event:

• 155 lbs.: Gilbert Melendez def. Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision

Main Card (Showtime):

• 145 lbs.: Cristiane Santos def. Hiroko Yamanaka via KO, 0:16, Rd 1
• 205 lbs.: Gegard Mousasi def. Ovince St. Preux via unanimous decision
• 155 lbs.: K.J. Noons def. Billy Evangelista via unanimous decision

Preliminary Card (May not be televised):

• 155 lbs.: Caros Fodor def. Justin Wilcox via KO, 0:13, Rd 1
• 170 lbs.: Roger Bowling def. Jerron Peoples via KO, 0:42. Rd 1
• 265 lbs.: Devin Cole def. Gabriel Salinas-Jones via unanimous decision
• 145 lbs.: Eddie Mendez def. Fernando Gonzalez via split decision
• 170 lbs.: Herman Terrado def. Chris Brown via submission (armbar) at 4:05, Rd 3

UFC 142 took a major blow with the announcement of three fighters officially scratched from the event.

UFC announced the removal of Siyar Bahadurzada (20-4-1), Rob Broughton (15-7-1) and Stanislav Nedkov (12-0) from the Jan. 4 event.

Replacing the removed fighters will be Carlo Prater (29-10-1) for Bahadurzada, who will be facing Erick Silva (13-1) in a welterweight match-up.  Gabriel Gonzaga (12-6) will be making his return to the UFC for Broughton and will be facing UFC newcomer Ednaldo Oliveira (13-0-1).

Also not yet officially mentioned, Tatame has reported that Paulo Thiago (14-3) has withdrawn from the card.  Thiago was originally slated to fight one of the four Americans on the Brazilian stacked card, Mike Pyle (21-8-1).

UFC 142 takes place Jan. 14 at Rio de Janeiro's HSBC Arena, featuring a featherweight title fight between current champion Jose Aldo and undefeated contender Chad Mendes.

The field is taking shape for Bellator's newly organized season-six bantamweight tournament.

Officials released hat Marcos Galvao (10-5-1), Luis "Betao" Nogueira (12-2), Rodrigo "Ratinho" Lima (9-0) and Ed West (17-6) are all slotted for the eight-man field.

Galvao was bounced from the season-five tourney semifinals with a close split-decision loss to Alexis Villa. The WEC vet's only other Bellator loss came to Joe Warren.

Nogueira enters the tournament with eight wins in his past nine fights. The lone loss came to West in the season-five tourney's opening round.

Lima makes his promotional debut following a perfect 9-0 run in his native Brazil. Seven of his wins have come via stoppage.

West enters his third tournament following a runner-up finish in season three and a semifinal finish in season five. The losses came to Makovsky and Eduardo Dantas, respectively.

Ueda, a wrestling and grappling champion, is perhaps best known for his two-year reign as Shooto's featherweight (132-pound) champion. He won the vacant title with a victory over Koetsu Okazaki before a split-draw with Marcos Galvao and decision victories over So Tazawa and Eduardo Dantas.

Champion Zach Makovsky currently rules the bantamweight division.

"The Ultimate Fighter" season 10 winner, Roy Nelson is set to welcome Fabricio Werdum back in to the UFC.

Nelson’s (16-6) UFC tenure was teetering on the brink following back-to-back losses to Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir, but he bounced back strong in his most recent fight. Nelson took the fight to Mirko “Cro Cop Filipovic at UFC 137, likely ending the Croatian’s career via a third-round TKO stoppage.

Werdum (14-5-1) was on a strong run in Strikeforce, capping a three-fight winning streak with a victory over Fedor Emelianenko. He was upended in his most recent bout, delivering a lackluster performance and losing a unanimous decision to Alistair Overeem in June.

UFC 143 is to be held Feb. 4 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

This Saturday's Strikeforce card has now been completed with the addition of two preliminary fights.

Officials recently finalized the lineup with two preliminary-card bouts: middleweights Fernando Gonzalez (17-9) vs. Eddie Mendez (5-0-1) and welterweights Chris Brown (6-2) vs. Herman Terrado (6-2).

Gonzalez, a WEC and KOTC vet, looks to snap out of a two-fight losing skid when he meets Mendez, a fellow Californian and Strikeforce newcomer who's racked up an undefeated record in organizations such as Rage in the Cage and Total Fighting Alliance.

Brown, meanwhile, makes his Strikeforce debut and puts a five-fight win streak in regional competition on the line when he meets Terrado, who recently picked up his third straight win and made a successful promotional debut with a first-round knockout of A.J. Matthews at "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley."

"Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal" takes place at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego.

With Demetrious Johnson scratched from the card so he could compete in the inaugural UFC flyweight tournament in March, Johnny Bedford has taken his spot on next month's UFC on FOX 2 card.

Bedford (18-9-1) takes on fellow bantamweight Eddie Wineland (18-8-1) on the night's preliminary card.

Bedford, who was knocked out of the "TUF 14" bantamweight semifinals by eventual show winner John Dodson, returned earlier this month on the undercard of the show's live finale, where he scored a vicious third-round TKO beatdown of fellow cast member Louis Gaudinot. The onetime Bellator fighter is now 7-1 over his past eight pro fights, and five of the wins came via stoppage.

Wineland, a former WEC champion, looks to snap a two-fight losing streak. After piecing together a four-fight win streak in the now-defunct WEC (which included two "Knockout of the Night" awards), Winleand has dropped consecutive decisions to Joseph Benavidez and Urijah Faber under the UFC banner.

UFC on FOX 2 takes place Jan. 28 at Chicago's United Center.

UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre will undergo surgery Tuesday to fix the damage to his injured right knee.

The procedure will be done at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles, a renowned facility for sports medicine among professional athletes. It will be performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the team physician of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, who is considered one of the most accomplished orthopedists in sports medicine.

In a recent teleconference, St-Pierre's personal orthopedist Dr. Sebastien Simard said that the surgery would require a total reconstruction of St-Pierre's anterior cruciate ligament along with repairing damage in his meniscus.

Estimates for his return have ranged from between 6-10 months, depending on how he responds to physical rehabilitation.

The injury of course, forced St-Pierre out of a planned February bout with Nick Diaz, and his spot was taken by Carlos Condit. The Diaz-Condit bout has now been designated as an interim welterweight title fight.

The first international series of "The Ultimate Fighter" now has coaches.

Taking the show to Brazil, "TUF" will have veteran fighters Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva coach the next season.

UFC president Dana White today announced the selections during a pre-UFC 142 press conference in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazilian firm Floresta will produce "The Ultimate Figher: Brazil"and air as part of the UFC's broadcast deal with Globo. The series is expected to feature 12 taped episodes in addition to a live finale.

UFC matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby will be joined by White in Sao Paulo on Wednesday to host an open tryout session  for fighters hoping to land a spot on "TUF: Brazil".

Rory MacDonald will face Che Mills in a welterweight bout in the Spring of 2012.

The contest is slated to take place in March at an event expected to be UFC 145 from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

MacDonald announced the fight while a guest on "UFC Central" with Joe Ferraro.

MacDonald (12-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) holds wins in the UFC over Mike Guymon, Nate Diaz and Mike Pyle and has lost only to former WEC champion and upcoming UFC welterweight interim title challenger Carlos Condit.

Mills (14-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is coming off of a successful UFC debut in November, when defeated Chris Cope at UFC 138 by TKO within a minute of the opening round.

Fedor Emelianenko (32-4) will face Satoshi Ishii (4-1-1) at "DREAM: Fight for Japan: Genkidesuka!! Oomisoka!! 2011!" (also dubbed "DREAM: New Year! 2011) on December 31, according to MMAJunkie.com.

The bout will mark a return to Japan for Emelianenko (32-4), a former PRIDE heavyweight champion. In Ishii (4-1-1), he will face a former Olympic gold medalist.

The card will also feature two DREAM title bouts, with lightweight champion Shinya Aoki meeting Satoru Kitaoka and featherweight champion Hiroyuki Takaya facing Tkeshi Inoue. In addition, the event will host the semi-finals and final of the DREAM bantamweight tournament featuring Rodolfo Marques Diniz, Bibiano Fernandes. Antonio Banuelos and Masakazu Imanari.

"DREAM: Fight for Japan: Genkidesuka!! Oomisoka!! 2011!" (also dubbed "DREAM: New Year! 2011") takes place December 31, emanating from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event will air live stateside on HDNet.

The full card for "DREAM: Fight for Japan: Genkidesuka!! Oomisoka!! 2011!" consists of the following bouts:

• Fedor Emelianenko vs. Satoshi Ishii
• Shinya Aoki (c) vs. Satoru Kitaoka (DREAM lightweight championship)
• Hiroyuki Takaya (c) vs. Takeshi "Lion" Inoue (DREAM featherweight championship)
• Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazuyuki Miyata
• Yuichiro Nagashima vs. Katsunori Kikuno (mixed-rules bout)
• Rodolfo Marques Diniz vs. Bibiano Fernandes (bantamweight grand-prix semifinal)
• Antonio Banuelos vs. Masakazu Imanari (bantamweight grand-prix semifinal)
• Hideo Tokoro vs. Yusup Saadulaev (bantamweight grand-prix reserve match)
• Ryo Chonan vs. Hayato Sakurai
• Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Peter Aerts (pro-wrestling match)

UFC president Dana White has announced that the organization will launch its 125-pound flyweight division in March.

White confirmed that a four-man tournament will determine the company's inaugural UFC flyweight champion, with former UFC bantamweight Demetrious Johnson facing Tachi Palace Fights’ flyweight champion Ian McCall and fellow former UFC bantamweight Joseph Benavidez battling Shooto’s 123-pound champion Yasuhiro Urushitani.

Johnson (9-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) looks to come back from a title-fight loss to UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz back in October. McCall (11-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC), another WEC veteran, is currently riding a four-fight win streak and will vacate Tachi Palace Fights' flyweight belt in order to move to the octagon. He is considered in some circles the top flyweight in the world.

Benavidez (15-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) rides the momentum of consecutive wins over Eddie Wineland and Ian Loveland coming into the bout. The Team Alpha Male member has only lost to Dominick Cruz in his career.

Urushitani (19-4-6 MMA, 0-0 UFC), the former Shooto bantamweight champion, rides a five-fight win streak of his own coming into the UFC.

The tournament  will take place at “UFC on FX 2” in March, where the event is slated to be emanating from the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia.