With Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell sidelined by injury, Matt Hughes has stepped in to headline UFC 85: Liddell vs Evans on June 7 in London.

The 34-year-old Hughes will meet Brazilian welterweight Thiago "Pitbull" Alves in the main event of the mixed martial arts card at the O2 Arena. Liddell had been set to meet unbeaten light-heavyweight Rashad Evans until news of a torn hamstring surfaced last week.

"Alves is an ATT (American Top Team) - trained Muay Thai wrecking machine coming off of five straight wins and Hughes is a powerhouse wrestler who was the most dominant welterweight champion in UFC history," UFC president Dana White said in a statement.

Hughes' last outing was a submission loss to Georges St Pierre at UFC 79: Nemesis in December, dropping his record to 43-6 (including 15-4 in the UFC). The 24-year-old Silva (18-4 and 6-2 in the UFC) is coming off an impressive win over Karo "The Heat" Parisyan.

"I'll probably look to take him down, try to wear him out and get him a little slower because he's got such quick punches, knees, and kicks," Hughes said in a statement. "I think strength will come into play, me being bigger than he is, but I'm glad to fight Thiago."

Hughes' first trip to England was in July 2002 when he defended his welterweight title against Canadian Carlos Newton at UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall.

"No matter what happens in this Alves fight, I've got Matt Serra next," Hughes said on his website.

Evans will now meet James "Sandman" Irvin, who improved to 14-4 with an eight-second knockout of Houston Alexander recently.

"I'm not fighting Chuck Liddell, but Irvin is definitely on the top level," said Evans. "He's got big punching power and he's proven himself time and time again, so I'm definitely happy to fight a top-tier opponent. Liddell and Irvin have similar fighting styles, and you have to go out there and fight them. You can't go in there and hopefully get a takedown on them."

The UFC also announced a middleweight bout between England's Michael "The Count" Bisping and Chris "The Crippler" Leben on the London card, which features 13 bouts. Bisping improved to 16-1 with a debut middleweight win over Charles McCarthy at UFC 83: Serra vs St Pierre 2 in Montreal earlier this month. Leben is coming off wins over Alessio Sakara and Terry Martin.

Source: canadianpress.google.com