After 10 years in the UFC, Michael Bisping will finally get a shot at UFC gold.
Bisping will replace an injured Chris Weidman to challenge Luke Rockhold for the middleweight championship in the main event of UFC 199 on June 4, Dana White announced on SportsCenter Wednesday.
When the news broke Tuesday that Weidman was removed from UFC 199 due to an injury, several contenders, including Bisping, offered to step in.
A former "Ultimate Fighter" winner and veteran of 25 UFC fights, Bisping likely earned the shot due to his notoriety, a willingness to sling mud at his opponents, and a win against all-time great Anderson Silva in February.
The win over Silva was Bisping's fourth in five appearances, a stretch that kept him entrenched in the division's top 10. With top contender Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza dealing with a meniscus injury from his UFC 198 fight with Vitor Belfort on Saturday, the path was clear for Bisping to get the call to face Rockhold.
The new UFC 199 main event will be a rematch of a November 2014 encounter between Rockhold and Bisping, which ended with Rockhold securing a guillotine choke to win via submission.
Rockhold is on a five-fight win streak that was capped off by a title TKO win over Weidman that made him the middleweight champion at UFC 194 last December.
UFC 199 is set to take place June 4 in Inglewood, Calif. It features a co-main event bantamweight title fight between champion Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.
