Michael Bisping: Daniel Herbertson | Sherdog.com
Bisping and Rivera have agreed in principle to face off at UFC 127, set for Feb. 27 at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. The news was first reported Wednesday evening by MMAWeekly.com, and Sherdog has confirmed the report with sources close to the bout. Contracts for the fight have yet to be signed.
The middleweight scrap joins several other interesting matchups scheduled for the event, including two welterweight showdowns, as Carlos Condit faces Chris Lytle and B.J. Penn takes on Jon Fitch in the main event. Additionally, Aussie George Sotiropoulos will return home as he takes on hard-hitting German Dennis Siver in a lightweight tilt.
Bisping is coming off his second straight victory inside the Octagon, as he outpointed Yoshihiro Akiyama in the main event of UFC 120 in London, England. Since dropping to middleweight in 2008, the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 3” has gone 6-2 with the promotion, losing only to former Pride champions Dan Henderson and Wanderlei Silva. Bisping holds notable victories over Chris Leben, Denis Kang and Matt Hamill.
At UFC 122, Jorge Rivera was slated to face Italian striker Alessio Sakara in the co-main event from the Konig Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany. However, Sakara fell ill on the day of the event, and Rivera was left without an opponent.
It was during that weekend that reports surfaced regarding the potential Rivera-Bisping encounter. Rivera has won his last three fights, most recently knocking out Nate Quarry at UFC Fight Night 21 in March.