It won’t be the initially planned rematch at UFC 199, but Michael Bisping got the call from the UFC to step in and face Luke Rockhold on short notice on June 4 in Los Angeles. UFC president Dana White revealed the news on SportsCenter on Wednesday.
Chris Weidman was supposed to rematch Rockhold at UFC 199, but he fell out of the bout due to a herniated disc in his neck on Tuesday. With Weidman facing surgery and 6 to 12 weeks of recovery, the UFC turned to Bisping, who was one of the first middleweight contenders to offer his services for the fight.
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Rockhold defeated Weidman at UFC 194 in December to capture the middleweight title. He also holds a victory over Bisping. Rockhold submitted the brash Brit in November of 2014 when the two headlined a UFC Fight Night event in Sydney, Australia.
Bisping is coming off of a controversial victory over Anderson Silva in February. He has long been in title contention, but never been granted a title fight. Bisping gets the call on less than three weeks notice, keeping Rockhold in the headlining bout.
UFC 199 also features another title fight. Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will put his belt on the line in another rematch, as he faces Urijah Faber. It will be the third time the two have met, with Faber winning their first fight and Cruz getting the victory in the second.
