Michael Bisping vs. Tim Boetsch moved off UFC 148, now comes at UFC 149 in Calgary

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

With the UFC Middleweight Championship bout between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen moving to UFC 148 on July 7, the event in Las Vegas was shaping up to be one of the most packed events in UFC history.

However, one of the bigger fights on the card has now been moved to the UFC 149 card two weeks later in Calgary. According to a report from MMAJunkie.com, the Michael Bisping vs. Tim Boetsch fight has been shifted to the Calgary card.

With two title fights, a third bout between former champions Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz, and a bout between Cung Le and Rich Franklin, the pay-per-view slots on July 7 were taken up quickly. Moving this potential middleweight contender bout to the July 21 card helps spread out the action for the month, as well as adding another legitimate bout to the event in Calgary.

Bisping-Boetsch may determine a challenger for the UFC Middleweight Title, as Bisping's performance in a razor thin decision loss to Chael Sonnen and Boetsch's third straight win with a huge KO of Yushin Okami have them both nearing contention.

Penick's Analysis: The move makes sense, though this would have been a big part of making UFC 148 an especially epic card. Still, getting a really good and relevant fight onto the UFC 149 card was important for them as well. The Calgary event doesn't have the biggest selling headliner, so the more they can boost the card overall the better off they'll be.

[Michael Bisping art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

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