Mark Munoz has pulled out of next Saturday’s UFC on Fox 2 co-main event against Chael Sonnen due to an arm injury and Sonnen will now face Michael Bisping in a number one contender’s bout at the Jan. 28 event in Chicago, UFC President Dana White just announced on Twitter.
Bisping had been scheduled to take on Demian Maia in the opening bout on the Fox card. It is not yet known how long Munoz will be sidelined by the injury.
The Sonnen vs. Bisping winner will be the next challenger for middleweight champion Anderson Silva, with the matchup likely to take place sometime this summer.
The two outspoken middleweights actually have a brief history together, as the pair were rumored to coach against each other on the recent season of The Ultimate Fighter 14. However, Sonnen was unable to coach, and the position went to Jason “Mayhem” Miller, who went on to lose to Bisping at the season finale in December.
Meanwhile, Sonnen returned from an 14-month layoff following his loss to Silva and a positive drug test with a second-round submission of Brian Stann in October.
A replacement opponent for Maia was not named and it hasn’t been announced whether the main card will now hold just two fights instead of the scheduled three.
