The conflicting reports surrounding Michael "The Count" Bisping and Wanderlei "The Axe Murder" Silva have taken an interesting turn. The two fighters are tentatively scheduled to face one another at UFC 105, but sources close to Silva's camp have informed Sportsnet that "The Axe Murderer" is not being considered for the bout.
However, opposing information has come from Bisping's camp.
According to those close to England's MMA poster child, the bout with Silva may not been confirmed yet, but it is definitely on the table.
It appears the ball is in the Brazilian's court: will he or won't he fight The Count in Manchester?
The scheduling appears to work for both sides. Bisping is required to take some time off after his loss at UFC 100 to Dan Henderson while Silva has stated that he is looking to have one more fight in 2009, likely in November or December. The UFC 105 event in Manchester is scheduled for November 14.
Silva's last bout was a controversial decision loss to Rich "Ace" Franklin at UFC 99, which took place in Germany on June 13 and he told me he is itching to get right back in there and put that difficult loss behind him.
Cheick Kongo, one of Bisping's Wolfslair teammates, is also angling to have a fight at the end of this year.
A source close to Kongo informed Sportsnet that the French striker is tentatively scheduled to face Frank Mir at UFC 107 in Memphis, TN.
The timing works great for Kongo as fellow Wolfslair training partner, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, is set to headline the UFC 107 show against his Ultimate Fighter 10 coaching counterpart, Sugar Rashad Evans.
Kongo's last bout was a unanimous decision loss to Cain Velasquez, at the aforementioned UFC 99 show, so he will be looking to rebound vs Mir, who is coming off his own loss to Brock Lesnar at UFC 100.
Mir's camp has stated they have yet to hear of this fight request, but have stated they are definitely interested in fighting Kongo.
