Originally set to square off with judo ace Yoshihiro Akiyama, former long-time PRIDE Middleweight Champion Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva will now battle TUF 3 winner Michael “The Count” Bisping in a middleweight bout at UFC 110 at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.

Bisping redeemed himself after his brutal knockout loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 100 by systematically picking apart former top contender Denis “Super Korean” Kang at UFC 105 and will look to resume his climb up the ranks with a big win over the ultra-aggressive Silva.

Silva (32-10-1, 1 NC) may no longer be the feared competitor that he once was in PRIDE, but he remains as one of the most dangerous fighters in the sport of mixed martial arts.

With 23 of his 32 career wins coming by knockout, including a 36-second mauling of Keith Jardine at UFC 84, fans know that when they sit down to watch one of Silva’s fights, they will be entertained from start to finish.

Unfortunately for Silva, he has come up on the losing end of five of his last six fights, among them a controversial decision loss to former champion Rich “Ace” Franklin at UFC 99, and another loss could spell the end of his illustrious career.

Bisping (18-2-0) was all but written off entirely following his vicious defeat at the hands of Henderson in July, but rebounded with a very impressive victory over Denis Kang at UFC 105 two weeks ago.

Putting on what was arguably the best performance of his career in the second round, Bisping rallied from a shaky opening stanza and left Kang beaten, bloodied and bewildered.

Once again focused on fighting his way to a title shot, Bisping intends to make Silva his next victim while sending a message to the rest of the division in the process.

Akiyama, originally slated to be Silva’s opponent at the debut Australian card, is still expected to compete at the event, but his new opponent has not yet been named.

UFC 110 takes place on February 21, 2010 at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.