Wanderlei Silva will meet Michael Bisping in a featured bout at UFC 110 on Feb. 21 at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. Though the promotion has made no official announcement regarding the event, the former Pride Fighting Championships titleholder confirmed the matchup in a video blog at wandfightteam.com.
“My opponent is Bisping,” Silva said. “It’s a great match for me. I need this victory. It’s a very, very important fight for me.”
The fate of Silva’s original opponent, Yoshihiro Akiyama, was not immediately known. The 33-year-old Brazilian brawler has lost five of his last six fights, including a unanimous decision loss to former middleweight champion Rich Franklin at UFC 99 in June. One of the sport’s most beloved figures, Silva once went nearly five years between defeats. He holds notable victories against two-time Olympian Dan Henderson, former UFC light heavyweight king Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba.
Anchored at the Wolfslair Academy, Bisping rebounded from his brutal knockout loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 100 with an impressive second-round stoppage of Denis Kang earlier this month. The 30-year-old Englishman has posted eight wins in 10 fights since entering the UFC in 2006 and has delivered 16 of his 18 career victories by KO, TKO or submission.
Other fights rumored but not yet official for the UFC’s dive Down Under include heavyweight matchups pairing Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira with Cain Velasquez and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic with Ben Rothwell, a light heavyweight tilt pitting Stephan Bonnar against Krzysztof Soszynski and a welterweight bout between Chris Lytle and Dong Hyun Kim.
UFC 110
Sunday, Feb. 21
Acer Arena
Sydney, Australia
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
Mirko Filipovic vs. Ben Rothwell
Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Chris Lytle
James Te Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac
Elvis Sinosic vs. Chris Haseman
