Michael Bisping at the UFC 127 weigh-ins – Photo via UFC.com
A previously scheduled middleweight bout between Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping (22-4) and Tim ‘The Barbarian’ Boetsch (15-4) has been rescheduled from the upcoming UFC 148 card in Las Vegas, to July’s UFC 149 event in Calgary.
News of the change was confirmed by several websites today, but MMAjunkie.com is confirming that the two middleweights will indeed meet at UFC 149.
UFC 149 is expected to take place on July 21, 2012 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The move from Vegas to the Canadian card was likely prompted by the changes caused by the middleweight title bout between champ Anderson Silva and challenger Chael Sonnen having been rescheduled from UFC 147 to UFC 148.
Bisping will look to earn a solid victory over his opponent after a No. 1 contender loss to Sonnen last January at the UFC on FOX 2 show. Despite a spirited fight which some (including myself) had ‘The Count’ winning, Sonnen would earn a unanimous decision from the judges. The loss ended a four fight win streak for the Brit.
Boetsch will enter the cage on a come-from-behind victory over former contender Yushin Okami last February in Japan. After being down two rounds on the card, ‘The Barbarian’ came out swinging in the third, catching ‘Thunder’ with some hard strikes before ending the match at 54-seconds of the round. The win was Boetsch’s third straight since dropping down to middleweight.