The 185-pound showdown between Michael Bisping (15-1) and Chris Leben (18-4) at UFC 85 that MMAmania.com first passed along days ago is now official and will take place at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7.
"The Count" is coming off an impressive middleweight debut at UFC 83: "Serra vs. St. Pierre 2" this past weekend, taking out Charles McCarthy in impressive fashion. It won't be as easy, however, to pound out the super tough and extremely game "Crippler."
Leben is on a two-fight win streak, including a technical knockout of Alessio Sakara at UFC 82: "Pride of a Champion" last month, as well as a sensational come from behind knockout of Terry Martin at UFC Fight Night 11.
This has fireworks written all over it -- both men prefer to keep on the feet and throw leather. If it does go to the ground, however, Leben possesses a distinct advantage with his underrated ground skills.
In addition to the bout between Leben and Bisping, UFC.com also made official the main event between welterweights Matt Hughes and Thiago Alves, as well as the light heavyweight tilt between Rashad Evans and James Irvin.
Talk about making up for the loss of Chuck Liddell -- the man who had to withdraw from the UFC 85 pay-per-view (PPV) event just this week with a torn hamstring. He's essentially the reason for the sudden increase in star power.
Remember, too, that there is another fantastic 170-pound scrap on the card between Mike Swick and Marcus Davis, as well as a 185-pound match up between Nate Marquardt and Thales Leites.
Oh yeah, two top heavyweights -- Brandon Vera and Fabricio Werdum -- are also scheduled to tangle.
This has turned out to be an amazing line up ... perhaps better than the original incarnation. To check out the latest UFC 85 fight card click here.
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