Michael Bisping's first fight back from his knockout loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 100 will be against Denis Kang at UFC 105 on Nov. 14 at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England, the UFC confirmed Tuesday. Fellow Brit Dan Hardy has also been confirmed for the event in a welterweight tilt versus undefeated Korean superstar Dong Hyun Kim.
Bisping and Hardy are only the first two confirmed of many British fighters expected for the UFC 105 card with a main event still to be announced. The Ultimate Fighter 9 winners Ross Pearson and James Wilks are also expected to compete.
Bisping (17-2) lost a chance at a title shot in July and is hoping he can make up for the poor showing with a victory over the experienced Kang (32-11-1), who was upsetted in his UFC debut in January against Alan Belcher but bounced back three months after with a unanimous decision win over Xavier Foupa-Pokam at UFC 97.
"This is exactly the sort of fight I need to get right back up there and prove that I'm one of the top guys in the division," Bisping said. "I've watched Kang's fights over the years and he is very dangerous on the ground with his submissions and is also a powerful striker on his feet. Plus, he's an explosive fighter. He can explode into a huge strike or takedown from nowhere, which makes him very unpredictable."
Meanwhile, Hardy (22-6), who will seek out his four consecutive UFC win, left a bold statement for the Judo specialist Kim and potential future opponents in the division.
"Kim is technically unbeaten and, while he's been under pressure in his career, has always found a way to win," Hardy said. "I will have to break him. He can control people on the ground with his judo and can land strikes. He can boss you on the ground for 15 minutes and that will be his plan. But I plan to put a beating on this guy that is so nasty and so one-sided it will be uncomfortable viewing for all the other welterweights in the UFC."
Kim (12-0-1) is 3-0 in the UFC with one fight a split decision lost against Karo Parisyan that was later changed to a no contest due to Parisyan testing positive for painkillers.
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