Josh Koscheck vs. Mauricio Alonso added to Bellator 172 main card with Piccolotti-Primus canceled

Next month’s Bellator 172 card has lost a fight but gained two more, including the long-delayed promotional debut of former UFC title challenger Josh Koscheck.

Bellator officials today announced Koscheck (17-10 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will fight fellow welterweight Mauricio Alonso (12-7 MMA, 0-1 BMMA). That bout takes the main-card slot initially reserved for lightweights Adam Piccolotti (9-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) and Brent Primus (7-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA); Piccolotti was forced out of the event with an undisclosed injury.

Bellator 172 takes place Feb. 18 at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. The main card airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

Koscheck, who’s stuck in a five-fight losing skid, competes for the first time since a March 2015 submission loss to Erick Silva. The 39-year-old hasn’t won a fight since 2012.

He now meets Alonso, a 36-year-old who rebounded from a Bellator-debut loss to Nick Pica with recent regional-show decision wins over Mike Persons and Justin Baesman.

Officials also added a middleweight bout between Francisco France (13-4-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) vs. Anatoly Tokov (24-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) to Bellator 172’s prelims.

The latest Bellator 172 card includes:

MAIN CARD

• Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Mitrione
• Patricky Freire vs. Josh Thomson
• Cheick Kongo vs. Oli Thompson
• Mauricio Alonso vs. Josh Koscheck

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Francisco France vs. Anatoly Tokov
• David Douglas vs. James Terry
• Cesar Gonzalez vs. Nikko Jackson
• Juan Cardenas vs. Luis Vargas
• Carlos Eduardo Rocha vs. Danasabe Mohammed
• Anthony Do vs. Bobby Escalante
• Jeremy Murphy vs. Matthew Ramirez
• J.J. Okanovich vs. Paradise Vaovasa
• Roque Reyes vs. Justin Tenedora

For more on Bellator 172, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.