Michael Bisping vs Jorge Rivera set for UFC 127
On Saturday 13 November, Jorge “El Conquistador” Rivera was scheduled to fight Alessio Sakara in the co-main event of Ultimate Fighting Championship 122 in Oberhausen, Germany. However, Sakara was forced to withdraw from the fight due to illness after the
event had already begun.
That bit of bad luck was followed with some good news, as Rivera has been named as Michael “The Count” Bisping’s opponent at UFC 127, which is expected to take place on 27 February 2011 in Sydney, Australia.
The UFC wasted no time booking Rivera another fight. Rivera told Swedish website Kimura.se that he would be fighting Bisping. He also revealed “I not only want the fight, I want to f**k him up.”
Rivera’s first fight with the UFC was in September 2003 at UFC 44. He had a UFC record of 5-5 until 2009 when he began his current three fight winning streak. His most recent fight was a second round technical knockout victory over Nate Quarry in March of
this year. His UFC record now stands at 8-5 while his overall mixed martial arts record is 18-7.
Bisping’s last fight was a unanimous decision victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama in October 2010. The bout earned each fighter a $60,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus. The win moved Bisping’s UFC record to 10-3 and his overall MMA record to 20-3.
This will be an important fight for both fighters. Bisping has been vocal in the press about his desire to fight for the UFC middleweight title. If Bisping is able to defeat Rivera, the victory may move him one step closer to his goal. On the other hand,
a win for Rivera will almost certainly move him higher in the UFC’s middleweight rankings and possibly put him on the path for a future title shot.
As of now, only one other fight has been rumoured for the UFC 127 fight card, a welterweight bout between Chris Lytle and Carlos Condit.
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