(Stefan Struve: Tall, young, and Dutch as fuck.)

From short-notice replacements, to submission specialists, to big-ass heavyweights, the UFC will be rolling the dice on a lot of new talent this Saturday at UFC 95, as six of the 20 fighters on the card have never fought in the Octagon before. So which ones will rise to the occasion and which ones are three days away from the most high-profile losses of their careers? Check out the brass-tacks briefing below and draw your own conclusions…

PAULO THIAGO (WW)
?Experience: 10-0 record (7 wins by submission) in Brazilian leagues including Jungle Fight and Storm Samurai.
Will be facing: Josh Koscheck (12-3, 10-3 UFC)
?Lowdown: Well, he’s a brave son-of-a-bitch, for one thing. Thiago is a member of BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion), a Brazilian SWAT-style unit known for fighting the heavily armed drug gangs of Rio de Janeiro. Amnesty International has repeatedly accused the outfit of excessive force in their operations — and Paulo will need some of it when he goes up against one of the UFC’s top five welterweights in his Octagon debut. Thiago is undefeated, and looks great against scrubs, but the jump in competition here is massive. Still, it’s MMA, and a Dos Santos/Werdum-caliber upset is always a possibility.

STEFAN STRUVE (HW)
?Experience: 16-2 record (12 wins by submission), fighting all over Europe. Holds submission wins over UFC vets Colin Robinson and Mario Neto, and has never gone past the second round in any fight.
Will be facing: Junior Dos Santos (7-1, 1-0 UFC)
?Lowdown: Nicknamed "The Skyscraper," Struve stands 6’8" and weighs just 220 pounds. As if his beanpole frame doesn’t make him enough of an anomaly in the UFC’s heavyweight class, he’s also a submission whiz, which will put him at odds with the division’s big wrestlers and strikers. The 21-year-old (as of today) Holland native has been competing professionally since he was 17, and now calls Team Schrijber his home. As Struve told Fighters Only: "I think I can beat most of the guys [in the UFC]. They have five or six really good heavyweights. The other guys…not so good, I think."

("He was better than me that night," says Kos about his loss to GSP.)

Josh Koscheck knows he’s not your favorite UFC fighter.  But you know something?  He doesn’t really care.  The way he sees it, his job is to fight, and win, as often as possible.  After a highlight reel knockout of Yoshiyuki Yoshida at the UFC’s “Fight for the Troops,” he looks to continue he winning streak at UFC 95 next Saturday against Octagon newcomer and undefeated Brazilian fighter Paulo Thiago.

In our exclusive interview, Koscheck discusses his next fight, his career, and what he makes of the Georges St. Pierre greasing allegations.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with me Josh.  What do you know about your opponent on the 21st, Paulo Thiago?

I really don’t know anything about him.  To be honest with you, I don’t even know what he looks like.  I’ve never seen video on him, nothing.  For me, it’s a fight.  I expect to go in there and fight and just do what I do, which is win.

Is the reason you haven’t seen any video on him because you can’t find any, or because you don’t care to look?

I just don’t even care to look.  I don’t care to watch it.  I don’t watch video on any of my opponents.  For me it’s just another fight.  I fight tough guys every single day at the gym.  I got a couple guys in the top ten in the weight class, like Jon Fitch and Mike Swick, plus the other guys from other weight classes at our gym.  I’m just looking for another good fight.  I’m sure he’s a tough opponent, but he hasn’t fought in the UFC yet.  This will be his first opportunity to fight somebody really tough.

(Photo courtesy of Tatame.)

Yesterday we relayed news that undefeated Brazilian fighter Paulo Thiago is getting his shot in the UFC against Josh Koscheck at UFC 95 in London.  It’s a tough first fight in the Octagon, but hey, the UFC isn’t the place for you if you’re only interested in easy fights.  

Turns out, however, that this isn’t the first fight in a three-fight deal for Thiago; it’s the only fight in a one-fight deal.  The UFC has signed him to the rare one-off contract, presumably so they won’t have to cut him when he loses to Koscheck.  Thiago says he’s hopeful that a good performance will lead to a longer contract, and that’s looking on the bright side, all right.  If he wins, he can ask for more money when he does actually sign a contract.  

But at the same time this is not a vote of confidence from the UFC.  Sounds like a longshot to stick around.  But you know who else was a longshot?  Rocky.  Although on second thought, Rocky lost, so he might have been cut after the first fight with Apollo.  Then we’d never have seen this.

Just please nobody tell Fedor and his management team that somebody is getting a one-off deal in the UFC.  They will freak right the hell out.

(Picture day at the UFC office. Kos would like four 3×5′s and some wallet-sized ones to give to girls in bars, please.)

It looks like Josh Koscheck will get his third fight in four months as the welterweight has been offered a bout with undefeated Brazilian newcomer Paulo Thiago at UFC 95 on February 21 in London.  Thiago makes his UFC debut after running up an unbeaten record in organizations you don’t care about (Jungle Fight, Conquista Fight, etc.) against opponents you’ve never heard of (Carelli Carelli, to name just one).  

Thiago has proved himself in the Brazilian ranks, but stepping up to the UFC to face a guy like Koscheck in his first fight is a tough draw.  Kos is coming off his devastating knockout of Yoshiyuki Yoshida at F2T2, though fortunately for Thiago he gets to meet him on neutral ground in England rather than in the U.S. military’s backyard (also known as one of the few places Koscheck can be a fan favorite, and even then only when he’s fighting a foreigner).  

With this fight added, the UFC 95 card is looking a little better.  Remember, this is the event that’s headlined by the distinctly not headline-worthy Joe Stevenson vs. Diego Sanchez bout.  Lest you think the UFC is treating you like second-class fans, people of the U.K., take a look at how they’ve filled out the rest of the card.