According to his official website, 9-time UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes confirmed that he'll be fighting Thiago Alves at UFC 85 on June 7th in London, England. Given the recent announcement that former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell was forced to withdraw from his scheduled fight with Rashad Evans due to a hamstring injury, UFC 85 was lacking a much-needed marquee name in order to justify it's pay-per-view worthiness. Although James Irvin has been tapped to replace Liddell, a match-up between he and Rashad Evans is hardly the type of main event that UFC fans are accustomed to paying for. The addition of Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves as a main event just might be enough to salvage a card that was questionable as a pay-per-view event to begin with.

Here's what Hughes had to say on his official website:

"June 7th, in England, I fight Thiago Alves. The fight is confirmed, it will be the main event for the card. Dana just called me with the news. Chuck got hurt and couldn't fight, so he needed a replacement and called me and I said yes. More news as I get it. No matter what happens in this fight, I've got Serra next. -matt"

Thiago Alves is coming off of an impressive stoppage of top welterweight contender Karo Pariysan earlier this month at UFC Fight Night 13 while Hughes last fought at UFC 79 where he was dominated and submitted by Georges St-Pierre in December of last year.