Chael Sonnen confirmed for January fight with Mark Munoz

Middleweight ringmaster Chael Sonnen likely sat on his couch Saturday night with a sly grin plastered across his mug after recently swerving the MMA community by teasing a match-up with the winner of Michael Bisping vs. Jason Miller only for it to come out this weekend he will instead meet Mark Munoz as had been originally expected.

News of the January 28 bout, set for Chicago at UFC on FOX 2, was confirmed through the UFC’s website. The pairing marks the lineup’s second scrap for top contendership with former champion Rashad Evans facing undefeated sensation Phil Davis in light heavyweight action.

Munoz has found success in his last four fights including victories against Demian Maia and most recently Chris Leben. He holds an overall record of 12-2 with half of his wins coming by way of strike-based stoppage despite being an accomplished collegiate wrestler.

With Sonnen’s grappling prowess it very well could come down to striking, a department in which the outspoken 185er showed improvement against title-holding rival Anderson Silva in their classic encounter at UFC 117. Sonnen is coming off a win over Brian Stann at UFC 136 in his only fight since his showdown with Silva.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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MMATraining Take: I could go either way on this bout. It makes sense to an extent but I don’t like where it leaves Bisping considering he’s easily as deserving for an opportunity to secure a title-shot as Munoz, if not more so given his ability to promote his fights and popularity from TUF. If Silva is sitting out until June that means “The Count” could have to compete (and win) two more times before sniffing the gold, a completely ridiculous scenario given what other past contenders have accomplished to get their crack at the belt.