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Bisping vs. Leites to headline UFC's debut in Scotland

The UFC's first foray into Scotland will feature a main event between a pair of top-10 middleweights.

Former Ultimate Fighter champion Michael Bisping is set to face Thales Leites in a bout that could potentially vault the winner into the upper echelon of the 185-pound division.

Bisping has proven to be a good-but-not-great gatekeeper during his almost decade-long UFC career, dutifully separating the wheat from the chaff in the middleweight division. The 36-year-old always seems on the cusp of title contention, but seemingly can't get over the hump when he's presented with a championship-caliber opponent.

Bisping has alternated wins and losses since 2012, scoring victories over Brian Stann, Alan Belcher, Cung Le, and C.B. Dollaway, while losing to Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Tim Kennedy, and Luke Rockhold.

A former middleweight title challenger, Leites had completely washed out of the UFC in 2009 after consecutive lackluster losses to then champion Anderson Silva and Alessio Sakara. The 33-year-old Brazilian grappling ace returned to the Octagon in 2013, and has since crafted one of the better comeback stories in the sport, racking up five consecutive victories.

UFC Fight Night 72 takes place at The SSE Hydro arena in Glasgow, Scotland, and features a lightweight bout between Evan Dunham and Ross Pearson as the co-main event.

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