May 18--Michael Bisping will replace injured Chris Weidman as Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion Luke Rockhold's June 4 opponent in UFC 199 at the Forum.
Bisping, 37, coming off a February victory over former long-reigning champion Anderson Silva, was summoned following a neck injury to former champion Weidman, who withdrew Monday.
San Jose-trained Rockhold defeated Weidman by fourth-round technical knockout in December.
Weidman, in a Facebook post, explained he'll regrettably require surgery to repair a neck injury.
"I am being told I'm going to need surgery," Weidman posted. "Either they take the disc out or they fuse it and I have to meet with surgeons today to figure out what they will do. The good thing is it is c 6-7 which is low in the neck, so I will have full range of motion either way and will be back better then ever. I'm told it's six-to-eight week recovery for the disc coming out and 12 weeks for a fusion. Even though it's very hard for me to see a bright side right now, the one silver lining I'm focused on is the timetable would allow me to fight on that New York card in November.
"I want to apologize to my family, friends, coaches, management, sponsors, fans, the UFC, and of course, Luke for letting you guys down. I promise I'll be back and I will get that belt back. I also want to publicly thank everyone close to me for their unconditional love and support, and especially thank my physical therapists and doctors for all of their great help."
