After an injury suffered in training forced Matt Wiman out of his upcoming fight with Mark Bocek at UFC 145, a scramble to find Bocek a new opponent on short notice has led to a former UFC fighter getting the call, as Bocek tweeted today that John Alessio would be his opponen on the April 21st card:
Hey guys, my new opponent @
#ufc145 is John Allesio, Wiman is out with a knee injury.#mma
Alessio has never tasted victory in the Octagon, getting tapped out by hall-of-famer Pat Miletich when he made his UFC debut at the age of 21 back in 2000, and then suffering two more defeats to Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves in 2006. Now fighting at 155 lbs., Alessio has since made the rounds of virtually every major MMA promotion, taking fights in the WEC, Pride, King of the Cage, MFC, and Dream to name a few. The Xtreme Couture product is currently riding a three-fight winning streak and has won 10 of his last 11 fights, and in recent months Alessio has campaigned aggressively for another UFC shot; now he’ll get it on just three weeks’ notice against a very talented ground fighter in Bocek.
John “The Natural” Alessio (34-14)
W Ryan Healy (unam. decision) – Score Fighting Series 4
W Luiz Firmino (unam. decision) – Superior Cage Combat 3
W Shawn Fitzsimmons (technical submission – RNC) – Superior Cage Combat 2