Leben vs. Bisping Confirmed for UFC 85

Just hours after the organization announced a UFC 85 main event of Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves, the UFC also confirmed a main-card bout between Chris Leben (18-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and Michael Bisping (15-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC).

UFC 85, which also features a bout between former headliner Rashad Evans and James Irvin (a replacement for injured Chuck Liddell), takes place at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Bisping agreed to the bout less than a week after his UFC 83 main-card victory over Charles McCarthy. Bisping, the light heavyweight winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 3," made his middleweight debut with a first-round TKO at the event. McCarthy announced his retirement just days after the fight.

Bisping will now take on hard-hitting Leben, a product of the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" who most recently TKO'd Alessio Sakara at UFC 82 in March. The 27-year-old, who began his UFC career with five straight victories, will now go for his third straight win after back-to-back losses to Jason MacDonald and Kalib Starnes.

With this week's flurry of UFC 85 transactions, a solid middleweight bout between Nate Marquardt and Thales Leites has now officially been relegated to the un-televised preliminary card.

The latest card now includes:

MAIN CARD (TELEVISED)

Thiago Alves vs. Matt Hughes
Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben
Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick
Rashad Evans vs. James Irvin
Brandon Vera vs. Fabricio Werdum

PRELIMINARY CARD (NOT TELEVISED)

Martin Kampmann vs. Jorge Rivera
Thiago Tavares vs. Matt Wiman
Thales Leites vs. Nate Marquardt
Luiz Cane vs. Jason Lambert
Roan Carneiro vs. Ryo Chonan
Jess Liaudin vs. Paul Taylor
Antoni Hardonk vs. Neil Wain