The UFC’s upcoming triple-header show on FOX has a new co-main event matchup.
Mark Munoz is injured and has had to pull out of his fight against Chael Sonnen. He will be replaced by Michael Bisping on the main card of UFC on FOX 2 on Jan. 28 in Chicago.
UFC president Dana White tweeted the news on Tuesday afternoon. He also said the winner will face Anderson Silva for the middleweight title.
Bisping was supposed to take on Demian Maia on the same card, but has been bumped up to the co-main event. Later, White announced that Chris Weidman would step in to face Maia to complete the three-fight main card, which is headlined by a light-heavyweight bout between Phil Davis and Rashad Evans, with Evans likely getting a title shot with a win.
The new middleweight matchup will be a battle between two of the most divisive fighters in the UFC. Bisping, who recently completed a stint as coach of The Ultimate Fighter opposite fellow loudmouth Jason (Mayhem) Miller, is consistently considered one of the organization’s more hated figures. Meanwhile, Sonnen spouts off on topics on a continual basis, taking shots at everyone and everything.
Bisping was the first to launch a shot on Twitter on Thursday, tweeting: “Unlucky for chael sonnen. I’m now fighting him next week. Tune in, jan 28th, fox tv. Fight of the year mofo’s.”
The event, which is the second to air on FOX but the first official, full-slated card under the UFC’s seven-year broadcast deal with the network, will be held at the United Center. The first live MMA event on primetime network TV took place on Nov. 12 in Anaheim and the one-hour show consisted of one fight — Junior Dos Santos knocked out Cain Velasquez to capture the heavyweight belt.
Bisping, who hails from England, is on a four-fight win streak, including a dominant TKO victory over Miller in December. Sonnen, who lost by fifth-round submission to Silva in August 2010 in a fight he dominated for the first four rounds, is coming off a TKO win over Brian Stann in October.
