Looks like UFC President Dana White had second thoughts about a matchup between middleweight contenders Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold.
Despite saying last week that he preferred to see Rockhold, a former Strikeforce champ, fight ex-UFC light heavyweight titleholder Lyoto Machida, he will now face rival Bisping at UFC Fight Night 55 on November 8 in a five-round affair.
The UFC Australia Twitter account broke the news last night.
Bisping and Rockhold have been trading verbal jabs for months, with “The Count” calling out Rockhold one more time after decimating Cung Le at UFC Fight Night 48 two weeks ago.
The American Kickboxing Academy standout wasted little time in responding, offering to give his entire fight purse to Bisping if he didn’t finish him in the first round.
Finally, it appears that the fighters – and fight fans – lobbying for this matchup has finally paid off.
Bisping is just 3-3 in his past six fights, but still comes in at No. 8 in the UFC’s official rankings and had arguably the best performance of his career against a dangerous Le.
Meanwhile, Rockhold has won 11 of his past 12 bouts, currently boasting back-to-back first round finishes over Costas Philippou and Tim Boetsch.
His lone setback since February 2008 was a devastating first round knockout against upcoming middleweight title challenger Vitor Belfort in May of last year.
Rockhold, the No. 5 fighter in the UFC’s middleweight rankings, has also expressed an interest in rematching Belfort or fighting for the belt before the end of the year.