Bisping Potential UFC 127 Headliner

Michael Bisping's next fight will be at UFC 127, which takes place at Acer Arena on Feb. 27 in Sydney, Australia.

“The Count” released the news in his video blog, posting the announcement to his Web site Thursday morning. The Brit also gave an indication that he would fight in the show's main event, possibly against Jorge Rivera.

“Obviously a certain someone who was supposed to fight recently but didn't has been talking s--t about me...says we're going to fight soon. I don't know if that is to be the case or not, but I’m keen to find out exactly who my next fight is going to be,” said Bisping.

Bisping is referencing two reports that ran last weekend regarding the potential fight. The possibility of the matchup first surfaced in Germany during UFC 122, when Rivera's opponent Alessio Sakara withdrew from their fight at the last minute to gastroenteritis. On Sunday, Rivera's manager spoke with MMAWeekly regarding Rivera fighting Bisping in the near future.

“UFC likes the fight. We like the fight. But I don't think Bisping is man enough to fight Jorge,” said Lex McMahon of Alchemist Management. “He has no warrior spirit; he knows Jorge will break his will and crush him.”

Bisping's last trip Down Under resulted in a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of former Pride Fighting Championships middleweight king Wanderlei Silva at UFC 110 in February. Since the loss, Bisping has won back-to-back fights, earning unanimous decisions over Dan Miller and Yoshihiro Akiyama, respectively. The latter victory came in his home country, as Bisping won fight of the night honors in front of a partisan London crowd at UFC 120.

Rivera was riding a three-fight win streak heading into his bout with Sakara at UFC 122. Prior to that bout that wasn't, “El Conquistador” most recently conquered Nate Quarry at UFC Fight Night in March. Like Bisping, he is an “Ultimate Fighter” alum, but Rivera by no means a new name in the sport. The veteran made his professional debut back in 2001 and stepped into the UFC's Octagon for the first time at UFC 44 in 2003, earning a unanimous decision victory over David Loiseau.