After the initially targeted bout between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez couldn’t get finalized for UFC 152, the Toronto fight card now has a headliner.
UFC officials on Friday night announced that the first-ever UFC flyweight championship fight between Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson will headline UFC 152, while a middleweight bout between Michael Bisping and Brian Stann will serve as the co-main event.
The already agreed upon fight between BJ Penn and Rory MacDonald will now move down the card slightly, likely filling a role in the middle of the pay-per-view.
Benavidez and Johnson will finally square off after Johnson had to face Ian McCall twice before finally earning the honors to step into the Octagon and fight for the title. The scoring in his initial bout with McCall was incorrectly tabulating, resulting in a draw. He then won a unanimous decision in their rematch. Benavidez bested Yasuhiro Urushitani to earn his crack at the inaugural 125-pound belt.
Bisping and Stann were both forced out of their most recently scheduled bouts, Bisping at UFC 149 and Stann at UFC on Fox 4, due to injury. The two then both lobbied for and now have received the opportunity to square off and will do so in the UFC 152 co-main event on Sept. 22 in Toronto.