Michael Bisping’s UK homecoming has taken an unfortunate turn with ‘The Count’ having been removed from the card of UFC Fight Night 30 in Manchester due to an undisclosed injury.
The UFC announced yesterday that Bisping (24-5) will no longer be competing in his home city of Manchester, however former UFC light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida (19-4), who recently announced his move to the middleweight division, has agreed to replace Bisping and will face Mark Munoz (13-3) on October 26 at the Phones 4U Arena.
Since losing the 205lb title to Jon Jones in 2011, Machida earned wins over both Ryan Bader and Dan Henderson, however most recently lost a debated unanimous decision to Phil Davis at UFC 163 in August. Following the loss, it was then reported that ‘The Dragon’ would drop to 185lbs. Machida was originally slated to face Tim Kennedy at UFC Fight for the Troops on November 6, however Kennedy will now be matched with a new opponent, yet to be announced.
With just four weeks before fight night, Munoz arguably faces a more formidable challenge in the Brazilian. ‘The Filipino Wrecking Machine’ returned from a year long lay-off in July to emotionally defeat Tim Boetsch at UFC 162.
Full fight card:
Middleweight: Lyoto Machida vs Mark Muñoz
Lightweight: Ross Pearson vs. Melvin Guillard
Light Heavyweight: Jimi Manuwa vs. Ryan Jimmo
Lightweight: Norman Parke vs. Jon Tuck
Middleweight: Alessio Sakara vs. Magnus Cedenblad
Flyweight: Phil Harris vs. John Lineker
Preliminary card (Online Prelims)
Lightweight: Al Iaquinta vs. Piotr Hallman
Middleweight: Luke Barnatt vs. Andrew Craig
Women’s bantamweight: Rosi Sexton vs. Jessica Andrade
Featherweight: Andy Ogle vs. Cole Miller
Featherweight: Jimy Hettes vs. Mike Wilkinson
Middleweight: Brad Scott vs. Michael Kuiper
