UFC on Fox 2 to Determine Three Title Contenders

UFC on Fox 2 to Determine Three Title Contenders
MMAWeekly.com

Not only is the UFC unleashing a triple-header for its second offer on Fox, the marquee fights will determine the next contenders to both the UFC light heavyweight and middleweight championships.

The UFC is going big on Jan. 28 at the United Center in Chicago. UFC on Fox 2 features Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis in the main event, with two middleweight feature fights pitting Chael Sonnen against Mark Munoz and Michael Bisping against Demian Maia.

UFC president Dana White, at Wednesday’s UFC on Fox 2 press conference in Chicago, confirmed that the winner between Evans and Davis will get a shot at the winner of the UFC 140 light heavyweight title fight between current champion Jon Jones and challenger Lyoto Machida.

“Rashad Evans looked fantastic in his last fight against Tito Ortiz and he wants to get the belt back,” said White on Wednesday. “But Phil Davis is no joke. He’s undefeated at 9-0 and has stormed through guys like Brian Stann, Alexander Gustafsson and Rogerio Nogueira. He wants the title shot just as bad as Rashad.”

White also noted that the winner of Sonnen and Munoz will get the next shot at Anderson Silva upon the middleweight champion’s return, and then the winner of Bisping and Maia will get the next title shot after that.

“Chael Sonnen and Mark Munoz are going to collide to see who gets the next crack at Anderson Silva,” White added. “Chael wants the chance to avenge his loss to Anderson. Mark wants a chance to prove that he’s the best 185-pounder in the world. Plus, we’ve got Michael Bisping against Demian Maia and the winner (of that fight) will be next in line for a title shot after the winner of Sonnen-Munoz.”

Sonnen was initially expected to get a shot at Silva at UFC 143 on Super Bowl weekend, but that was before Silva revealed that he would be out for the next few months trying to heal a shoulder injury.

White confirmed that Silva is expected to be ready by early summer to face the winner of Sonnen vs. Munoz.