The UFC 90 co-feature bout between Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves is off as Sanchez was forced to withdraw after tearing rib cartilage. The UFC sent out a release on the decision late Monday, which you can find on the UFC's Web site.

Josh Koscheck will step in to face Alves in a welterweight showdown. This is sort of a letdown, as Alves-Sanchez was going to be one of the more entertaining fights of the year and would've been a major shake-up to the welterweight division. I don't think either could hang with welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre yet, but they are both rising stars. Instead, Josh Koscheck gets a shot to fight Alves. Koscheck is another highly-ranked welterweight but this fight doesn't have nearly the same appeal. Credit the UFC for salvaging the fight as Koscheck is a more-than-capable replacement, but it's still a rough situation.

The injury to Sanchez is the second big injury from the UFC 90 card as Goran Reljic had to pull out of his match with Thales Leites, which was going to be another huge fight. The UFC 90 card was going to be a sleeper, since many weren't expecting too much, but there were three good fights on the card, along with the top fighter in the world, Anderson Silva, headlining. It's still solid but this definitely will hold it back from being great.