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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
When his opponent Alessio Sakara was pulled from last weekend's UFC 122 event on the day of the fight due to illness, Jorge Rivera began looking ahead to another bout. He stated that he would be facing Michael Bisping in Australia at UFC 127, and while Bisping says he's expecting to fight on that card, he hasn't been told an opponent as of yet.
"A certain someone who was supposed to fight recently but didn't has been talking s*** about me," Bisping said in video posted on his official website, Bisping.tv. "He says that we're going to fight soon. I don't know if that is to be the case or not. I haven't spoken to my manager. I'm keen to find out exactly who my next fight is going to be. I know I'm fighting in Australia; Sydney.
"I'm looking forward to going back there again. Main event is what I'm led to believe, so I'm very excited about that."
Bisping was a part of the UFC's first trip down under in 2010, where he lost a close decision to Wanderlei Silva at UFC 110.
"Australia is a great place," Bisping said. "Fingers crossed, the fans are going to be a bit kinder this time. Last time, I do believe there were 20,000 Australians all chanting, 'Bisping is a wanker.'"
UFC 127 is expected to take place from the Acer Arena on Sunday, February 27, which with the time delay would air live in the U.S. on February 26. The only other rumored bout for the card at this time is Carlos Condit vs. Chris Lytle.
Penick's Analysis: If the UFC is going to be running this as a pay-per-view event there's not a chance Bisping vs. Rivera is the night's main event. That would be the worst pay-per-view headlining fight the UFC had put on in a very long time, and I just can't see them doing that. If the event airs on Spike TV, that's a different story, but with the plan being a pay-per-view card, I could see this being the co-main event at best right now. Still, I think it'd be a good fight, and certainly one worth putting together.
[Michael Bisping art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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