Middleweights Tom Watson, Alessio Sakara Booked for UFC Fight Night 30 in England

The Oct. 26 event takes place at the Phones 4U Arena in Manchester, England, and is headlined by a pivotal 185-pound confrontation between Michael Bisping and Mark Munoz. The evening’s main card airs live on Fox Sports 1, while Fox Sports 2 and Facebook are expected to handle the prelims.

Watson has gone 1-2 in his Octagon career thus far after reigning as the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts middleweight titlist for nearly two years. The 31-year-old made his UFC debut last year in a split decision loss to Brad Tavares but rebounded from the setback by knocking out previously unbeaten Bulgarian talent Stanislav Nedkov this past February. Most recently, however, Watson was out-grappled and outpointed by former UFC title challenger Thales Leites on Aug. 3 at UFC 163.

Sakara, meanwhile, has not competed since November 2012, when he was disqualified for hitting Patrick Cote in the back of the head at UFC 154. “Legionarius” rides a three-fight skid into his confrontation with Watson and has not won a UFC bout since March 2010, when he knocked out James Irvin at UFC Live 1.