UFC officials today announced the first three scheduled bouts for February’s UFC Fight Night 83 event in London, including a middleweight matchup of Michael Bisping (27-7 MMA, 17-7 UFC) vs. Gegard Mousasi (37-6-2 MMA, 4-3 UFC).
Additional bouts include featherweights Makwan Amirkhani (12-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) vs. Mike Wilkinson (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and lightweights Rustam Khabilov (17-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) vs. Norman Parke (21-4-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC).
Bisping vs. Mousasi was not confirmed as the headliner for the card, with a UFC official telling MMAjunkie that “bout positioning on the card will follow in due course.”
Bisping is currently ranked No. 8 in the latest Nos Energy Drink MMA middleweight rankings, while Mousasi checks in at No. 11. UFC Fight Night 83 takes place Feb 27 at The O2 in London. U.S. broadcast plans have yet to be revealed.
Bisping, who will celebrate his 37th birthday one day after the fight, fights for the 25th time under the UFC banner. He’s been on a bit of an international tour as of late, competing in Australia, Canada, Macau and Scotland over his past five outings. He’s currently riding a two-fight winning streak after victories over Thales Leites and C.B. Dollaway.
Bisping, who will celebrate his 37th birthday one day after the fight, fights for the 25th time under the UFC banner. He’s been on a bit of an international tour as of late, competing in Australia, Canada, Macau and Scotland over his past five outings. He’s currently riding a two-fight winning streak after victories over Thales Leites and C.B. Dollaway.
Meanwhile, Mousasi has also been globetrotting a bit after fighting in Japan, the Philippines and Sweden in his past three fights. He had built a two-fight winning streak after beating Costas Philippou and Dan Henderson but then saw that come to a screeching halt in a disappointing September loss to Uriah Hall.
Amirkhani and Wilkinson meet after a public feud started by “Mr. Finland,” who took exception to Wilkinson behavior after his October 2014 win over Niklas Backstrom.