The Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to England on Oct. 16, for UFC 120 at the O2 Arena, headlined by a middleweight clash between Michael Bisping (19-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) and Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC).
Bisping will be looking to get back into contention in the UFC’s middleweight division after going 2-2 in his last 4 trips to the Octagon, and has been very vocal in his desire for a rematch with “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva. Before he can dream about stepping back in the cage with Silva, he will be facing another stiff test in his UFC career against the very tough judoka known as “Sexyama.”
Akiyama is 1-1 in the UFC, and is coming off a submission loss by triangle in the closing seconds of his slugfest with Chris Leben at UFC 116, after winning his UFC debut against Alan Belcher.
The UFC also officially confirmed British stars Dan Hardy and the highly touted up-and-comer John Hathaway will also be on the card. Dan Hardy (23-7 MMA, 4-1 UFC) will face off against Carlos Condit (25-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC), while John Hathaway (14-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) meets Mike Pyle (19-7-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC).
Tickets for the event go on sale later this week, with The UFC’s pre-sales beginning on Thursday, July 22, while the general public will have access to seats on Saturday, July 24.