Earlier this week it was announced (although not yet confirmed by the UFC) that Jon Fitch was being taken off the UFC 106 card due to a knee injury suffered by Ricardo Almeida, and would instead face Thiago Alves in a rematch at UFC 107 in January.  Alves's original opponent  Paulo Thiago (11-1, 1-1 UFC)) was then left without an opponent, but now Gustavo Noblat, the MMA blogger at Terra.com.br, is reporting that the welterweight switcheroo is complete, with Thiago is being shifted to the UFC 106 card next month to face Minnesota Martial Arts Academy product Jacob "Christmas" Volkmann (9-0):

Paulo Thiago has already set the date and opponent to perform for the third time in the UFC.

His manager, Wallid Ismail, revealed first-hand to this blog that Paulo will face American wrestling expert Jacob Volkmann on November 21st at UFC 106.

*translated

It appears that Thiago has finally caught a break, as if the Alves fight had gone down, Thiago would have faced Koscheck, Fitch, and Alves in his first three UFC bouts...perhaps the toughest trio any UFC newcomer has ever faced.  Thiago held his own against Fitch at UFC 100 in July, nearly catching the American in several chokes, but in the end, Fitch's durability and strength were too much for the Brazilian who suffered a unanimous decision loss, eliminating his undefeated status.

Volkmann is undefeated himself, with his most recent win being a brabo choke submission of TUF alum Kevin Knabjian at the sixth Bellator Fighting Championships event back in May.  With a strong wrestling base and fellow UFC beasts like Brock Larson and Sean Sherk to push him in training at Minnesota Martial Arts, Volkmann will likely look to use the a strategy similar to Fitch's when he makes his Octagon debut against Thiago in November.  What Volkmann probably can't mimic is Fitch's superhuman carotid arteries which seem to laugh in the face of any choke, and Thiago will certainly look to pick up where he left off against Fitch, and try to catch another American wrestler with his slick BJJ.

Current UFC 106 card:

Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin

Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Luiz Cane

Dustin Hazelett vs. Karo Parisyan

Amir Sadollah vs. Phil Baroni

Marcus Davis vs. Ben Saunders

Paulo Thiago vs. Jacob Volkmann

Caol Uno vs. Fabricio Camoes

Brock Larson vs. Brian Foster

Kendall Grove vs. Jake Rosholt

George Sotiropoulos vs. Jason Dent

*one of the listed prelims will likely be promoted to the main card to give the PPV broadcast its standard five fights.