Joseph Benavidez-Ian McCall Flyweight Showdown Planned for Super Bowl Weekend at UFC 156

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A flyweight confrontation between Ian McCall and Joseph Benavidez is slated to go down at UFC 156 on Super Bowl weekend.

The Feb. 2 event takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and is headlined by a featherweight title showdown pitting reigning 145-pound king Jose Aldo against former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. The evening’s pay-per-view card will also see ex-Strikeforce heavyweight pacesetter Alistair Overeem return to the cage to take on onetime EliteXC ruler Antonio Silva.

MMAJunkie.com first reported the McCall-Benavidez matchup on Tuesday morning, and Sherdog.com subsequently confirmed the booking with a source close to the bout.

McCall, 28, rattled off back-to-back victories over Shooto South American champion Jussier da Silva and prospect Dustin Ortiz before winning the Tachi Palace Fights flyweight title from Darrell Montague in August 2011. “Uncle Creepy” is still searching for his first Octagon victory, however, as the Californian drew with current UFC champion Demetrious Johnson this past March before dropping a unanimous verdict to “Mighty Mouse” in their June rematch at UFC on FX 3.

Also 28, Benavidez recently saw a four-fight winning streak snapped by Johnson in their UFC 152 contest to decide the promotion’s inaugural flyweight king. Prior to that hard-fought split decision defeat, the Team Alpha Male standout kicked off 2012 with an impressive knockout of Shooto 123-pound world champion Yasuhiro Urushitani, pounding out the Japanese talent just 11 seconds into the second round of their UFC on FX 2 conflict back in March.