Filed under: UFC
Undefeated middleweight Chris Weidman has agreed to step in and face submissions specialist Demian Maia at the UFC on FOX 2 event just eleven days from now, UFC president Dana White announced on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.
Maia was previously slated to face Michael Bisping on that same card, but lost his opponent when Bisping was shuffled into a fight with Chael Sonnen, replacing an injured Mark Munoz on the Jan. 28 event in Chicago.
According to White, Weidman accepted the short-notice fight against Maia after it was offered to another Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist, Rousimar Palhares, who turned it down.
Weidman comes into the fight with a perfect 7-0 record, with the last three of those wins coming in the UFC. He last competed at UFC 139 in San Jose this past November, where he choked out Tom Lawlor with a first-round D’Arce choke.
Maia, a former UFC middleweight title contender, last competed at UFC 136 in October, defeating Jorge Santiago via unanimous decision. Earlier today he wrote on Twitter that he was “very sad” his fight with Bisping wouldn’t go down as scheduled “cause it would be a very important fight for me.”
Once White announced that Weidman, a former All-American wrestler at Hofstra University, would be stepping in to take Bisping’s place, the Brazilian middleweight responded simply, “Thanks boss!!!”
The bout is schedule to air live on FOX on Jan. 28, alongside the Bisping-Sonnen fight and the light heavyweight main event bout between former light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans and Phil Davis.