Michael Bisping will headline his ninth UFC event in July.
The UFC announced on Monday that “The Count” will take on Brazilian middleweight Thales Leites in a five-round bout in the main event of UFC Fight Night 72 in Glasgow, Scotland, on July 18. Lightweight veterans Ross Pearson and Evan Dunham will collide in the co-main event.
Bisping (26-7) bounced between wins and losses since 2012, defeating Brian Stann, Alan Belcher, Cung Le and C.B. Dollaway. Leites (25-4), on the other hand, has looked unstoppable since returning to the UFC in 2013 with five wins in a row, including finishes against Trevor Smith, Francis Carmont and Tim Boetsch.
Pearson (17-8, 1 no-contest) enters the co-main event after scoring his last four UFC wins by way of knockout, and returns to the cage four months after a devastating finish over Sam Stout in March. Dunham (15-6), who had his back against the wall after four losses in five bouts, bounced back to the win column with a decision win over Rodrigo Damm in January.
UFC Fight Night 72 takes place at the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.
Michael Bisping vs. Thales Leites
Ross Pearson vs. Evan Dunham
Joseph Duffy vs. Ivan Jorge
Ilir Latifi vs. Hans Stringer
Leon Edwards vs. Pawe? Pawlak
Joanne Calderwood vs. Bec Rawlings
Robert Whiteford vs. Paul Redmond
Leonardo Mafra Teixeira vs. Steven Ray