The UFC's first flyweight title finally will be decided in September, as will a new rivalry between a pair of middleweights who have been itching to fight each other.
Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson will meet for the 125-pound championship and Brian Stann will take on Michael Bisping when the UFC returns to Toronto for UFC 152. UFC officials on Friday announced the fights, which first were reported by Joe Ferraro of Canada's SportsNet.
UFC 152 takes place Sept. 22 at Toronto's Air Canada Centre. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook.
The Benavidez-Johnson fight will serve as the main event in Toronto and will be just the second time the UFC has had a 125-pound fight headlining a card. At UFC on FX 3 in June, the Johnson-McCall rematch was the main event on FX. UFC officials said the Stann-Bisping fight will be the co-main event. Also expected for the card is a welterweight fight between B.J. Penn and Rory MacDonald, which now likely will fall in the middle of the pay-per-view main card.
Benavidez (16-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) and Johnson (15-2-1 MMA, 3-1-1 UFC) finally get a chance to fight for the flyweight title after a delay that started in March during a four-man tournament for the belt. Johnson's fight with Ian McCall ended in a draw thanks to a commissioner's error in Sydney, Australia, resulting in a rematch this past month. Johnson won that fight, moving him into the title bout with Benavidez, who has been waiting on the sidelines since his win over Yasuhiro Urushitani in Sydney.
Stann (12-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) was expected to headline UFC on FOX 4 next month in Los Angeles against former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard, but he was forced out with an injury. But not long after Bisping called him out, Stann responded and said it was a fight he'd like to take.
"I think the fans have wanted that fight ever since I dropped down to 185," Stann recently told MMAjunkie.com (
UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com). "It's bound to happen sooner or later – why not now?"
Stann suffered a second-round submission loss to Chael Sonnen at this past October's UFC 136, but rebounded in April with a first-round knockout of Alessio Sakara.
Bisping (22-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) hasn't fought since a close decision loss to Sonnen in January. He was scheduled to fight Tim Boetsch at next week's UFC 149 event before a knee injury and subsequent surgery forced him to withdraw. But on FUEL TV's "UFC Tonight," Bisping recently said he wanted to fight Stann, and the clock started ticking.
"I was speaking to Joe Silva, UFC matchmaker, quite recently, and I'm hoping to fight at UFC 152 in Toronto," Bisping said. "(I suggested) a couple of potential matchups, one being Brian Stann. I know he's got a shoulder injury, so I'm not sure if that will make it or not. But I'd like to fight Brian – he's an incredible fighter, and certainly somebody who would move me toward a title shot."
