Mere hours after losing his original opponent for UFC on FOX 2, Demian Maia has received a new one. The submission specialist faces standout wrestler Chris Weidman in a featured middleweight matchup on the card, which is set to take place on January 28th in Chicago, Illinois.

UFC President Dana White announced the change earlier today. Maia had originally been scheduled to face Michael “The Count” Bisping on the card, but Bisping stepped in for an injured Mark Munoz to face Chael Sonnen. The undefeated Weidman takes a big step up in competition on short notice.

Maia (15-3-0) has won three of his past four fights since dropping a lacklustre Unanimous Decision in his UFC Middleweight Championship bout with Anderson “The Spider” Silva at UFC 112. The grappling ace has finished ten of his opponents to date, but he has gone the distance in each of his past six fights against predominantly top-level competition. In October, he defeated fellow jiu-jitsu practitioner Jorge “The Sandman” Santiago in an effective performance, but he struggled at times in his June bout with Mark Munoz and must now combat another skilled wrestler on less than two weeks’ notice.

Weidman (7-0-0) gives up a significant amount of experience to Maia, but he has thus far impressed during his UFC tenure. The Serra-Longo representative made his Octagon debut as a late replacement against Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara and scored a fairly significant upset via Unanimous Decision. Since then, he has choked out Jesse “Water” Bongfeldt and “Filthy” Tom Lawlor in consecutive bouts to keep his unblemished record intact. Weidman now faces easily his toughest test to date when he steps in to battle Maia, but a victory would immediately vault the 27-year-old into contender status.

UFC on FOX 2 takes place on January 28, 2012 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)