Condit vs. Koscheck, Kuiper vs. Natal confirmed for UFC 143
by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Nov 29, 2011



A pair of bouts has been confirmed for the UFC's Super Bowl weekend event, UFC 143.

As MMAjunkie.com previously reported, a co-main event between Josh Koscheck (16-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) and Carlos Condit (27-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) is official, as is a middleweight bout between Michael Kuiper (11-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Rafael Natal (13-3-1 MMA, 1-1-1 UFC).

UFC 143 takes place Feb. 4 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The event's main card airs live on pay-per-view while preliminary bouts are expected to air on FUEL TV.

Condit was expected to face Georges St-Pierre at UFC 143 before Nick Diaz called out the champ following his UFC 137 win over B.J. Penn. An angry St-Pierre accepted, which put Condit on the sideline.

However, UFC president Dana White later clarified that Condit is next line should he prove victorious in his next fight. The former WEC champ replaced Diaz to meet St-Pierre at UFC 137 before a knee injury forced the champ to withdraw.

Koscheck most recently fought at September's UFC 135 event, where he downed UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes via first-round knockout. The win was Koscheck's first fight since suffering a broken orbital bone in a UFC 124 loss to St-Pierre.

On UFC 143's preliminary card, Dutchman Kuiper makes his debut with an unblemished resume and three consecutive first-round wins by TKO or KO on the international circuit. However, a look at his resume shows that he has yet to meet an opponent with significant high-level experience.

Natal most recently outpointed "The Ultimate Fighter 7" castoff and recent UFC cut Paul Bradley at UFC 133, which reversed a disappointing draw to Jesse Bongfeldt at UFC 124.

"Sapo" came out on the losing end in his octagon debut when Rich Attonito outpointed him at "UFC Fight Night 22: Marquardt vs. Palhares."