You can count on "The Count."
Michael Bisping will step in and face middleweight champion Luke Rockhold in the main event of UFC 199 on June 4 in Los Angeles, UFC president Dana White announced Wednesday on ESPN's SportsCenter. Chris Weidman fell out of the fight Tuesday due to a neck injury.
White said the fight that "makes the most sense" for Rockhold is Ronaldo Souza. But "Jacare" injured his meniscus in a win over Vitor Belfort last Saturday at UFC 198 and will need surgery, according to White. Bisping was the next man in line.
Rockhold (15-2) defeated Bisping via second-round submission in 2014. White said despite the previous victory that Rockhold was "excited" to fight Bisping again. The trash talk between the two men leading into that fight was very heated.
"They don't like each other," White said.
Rockhold, 31, won the title from Weidman at UFC 194 back in December. The former Strikeforce champion has won five in a row.
Bisping (28-7) has never earned a title shot in the UFC before now after nine years in the organization, many of them near the top of the middleweight division. The British MMA pioneer has won three straight and is coming off a unanimous decision win over Anderson Silva in January.
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