Photo by Tracy Lee for Yahoo! Sports
A middleweight bout for the number one contender spot has surfaced pitting former contender, Chael Sonnen (26-11-1) and ‘The Filipino Wrecking Machine’ Mark Muñoz (12-2).
MMAMania.com was first to report the matchup, saying they they had confirmed the “pending bout with sources close to the contest” for January’s upcoming UFC on FOX 2 event.
UFC on FOX 2 is expected to take place on January 28 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois and represents the promotions second show on FOX. Unlike the first event, UFC on FOX: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos, this event will feature four bouts on the live television card instead of one.
Sonnen returned from an imposed years hiatus following his loss to champ Anderson Silva at UFC 117 in August 2010. The former No. 1 contender earned a win over Brian Stann last month at UFC 136 in a “title eliminator” bout, submitting the former Marine with an arm triangle choke in the second round.
Sonnen had challenged Silva to a rematch immediately following his win over Stann but was ignored for the most part by the ‘Spider’. Silva is reportedly recovering from a shoulder injury and won’t be set to return till the early summer.
Muñoz earned a second round TKO stoppage in the UFC’s first five-round non-title bout, defeating Chris Leben in the main event of UFC 138 in England earlier this month. The victory was ‘The Filipino Wrecking Machine’s’ fourth straight and puts him at 9-2 overall in the UFC. After the UFC 138 win, Muñoz felt he had earned a shot at the title, and will now apparently get one if he can beat Sonnen at the FOX event.
Both men have some history already, having faced each other in college as wrestlers. Muñoz for Oklahoma State and Sonnen for Oregon University.