With Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell sidelined by injury, Matt Hughes has stepped in to headline UFC 85 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 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 (16-0-1) will now meet James (The Sandman) Irvin, who improved to 14-4 with an eight-second knockout of Houston (The Assassin) 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 in Montreal earlier this month. Leben (18-4) is coming off wins over Alessio Sakara and Terry Martin.

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COMMISSION PROFITS - The Quebec boxing commission collected $125,000 from UFC 83, according to commission and UFC officials. Commissions normally get a take of the gate from such shows and the Quebec commission got the maximum under its rules.

The gate from the Montreal event at UFC 83 was $5,016,130, according to the UFC. Compare that to the Sugar Ray Leonard-Roberto Duran 1980 fight at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, whose gate was a little over $4 million.

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NOTES - The Affliction-sponsored July 19 card in Dallas headlined by heavyweights Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia will be called "Banned," according to HDNet's "Inside the MMA" TV show. The title refers to the UFC's decision to ban Affliction clothing, which prompted Georges St. Pierre to wear plain trunks, adorned only with a fleur-de-lys, at UFC 83 ... Wayne Cole is stepping in for the injured Gary (Big Daddy) Goodridge against Eric (Big E) Pele at MFC 16: Anger Management on May 9 at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Enoch, Alta. Cole (11-6) has already won three fights in 2008 ... Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert (El Nino) Melendez will take on Josh (The Punk) Thomson at San Jose's HP Pavilion on June 27. The fight was originally scheduled for March but Thomson (14-2) was forced out because of a shoulder injury. Melendez (14-1) beat Gabe Lemley instead ... Frank Shamrock broke his arm, requiring a plate and six pins, in his March Strikeforce loss to Cung Lee. The good news was the San Jose card had a gate of US$1.18 million, with Shamrock saying on his website that he and Lee got "at least half that."

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