Alistair Overeem vs. Stefan Struve slated for UFC on FOX 13

Ranked heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Stefan Struve have been slated to tangle on December 13th at UFC on FOX 13, promotion officials announced on Wednesday.

Overeem (37-14, 1 NC) looks to make a quick turnaround after suffering a first-round knockout loss to underdog Ben Rothwell earlier this month. The setback marked a third such instance for the 34-year-old over his last four UFC fights, as Overeem succumbed to similarly brutal upset KO losses to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Travis Browne in 2013. Despite this, Overeem remains the No. 10 heavyweight on the UFC’s media-generated rankings.

Now he’ll look to get back on track against Struve (25-6), a fellow Dutchman with issues of his own. The towering 26-year-old stormed out to a 9-4 UFC record over his first five years with the promotion, culminating in an impressive second-round TKO win over Stipe Miocic, but has yet to fight since March 2013 due to the discovery of a career-threatening enlarged heart and leaking aortic valve.

Following a year-long layoff of intensive treatment, Struve was scheduled make his comeback against Matt Mitrione on July 5th at UFC 175, however a fainting spell prior to the fight led to the bout’s last-second cancellation. Struve was subsequently transported to the hospital, but has since been cleared to fight.

UFC on FOX 13 takes place at Phoenix’s US Airways Center. A lightweight tilt between Jamie Varner and Drew Dober is currently the only other scheduled bout, although MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani reported on Wednesday that Junior dos Santos vs. Stipe Moicic is also under consideration for the event.

Ranked heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Stefan Struve have been slated to tangle on December 13th at UFC on FOX 13, promotion officials announced on Wednesday.

Overeem (37-14, 1 NC) looks to make a quick turnaround after suffering a first-round knockout loss to underdog Ben Rothwell earlier this month. The setback marked a third such instance for the 34-year-old over his last four UFC fights, as Overeem succumbed to similarly brutal upset KO losses to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Travis Browne in 2013. Despite this, Overeem remains the No. 10 heavyweight on the UFC’s media-generated rankings.

Now he’ll look to get back on track against Struve (25-6), a fellow Dutchman with issues of his own. The towering 26-year-old stormed out to a 9-4 UFC record over his first five years with the promotion, culminating in an impressive second-round TKO win over Stipe Miocic, but has yet to fight since March 2013 due to the discovery of a career-threatening enlarged heart and leaking aortic valve.

Following a year-long layoff of intensive treatment, Struve was scheduled make his comeback against Matt Mitrione on July 5th at UFC 175, however a fainting spell prior to the fight led to the bout’s last-second cancellation. Struve was subsequently transported to the hospital, but has since been cleared to fight.

UFC on FOX 13 takes place at Phoenix’s US Airways Center. A lightweight tilt between Jamie Varner and Drew Dober is currently the only other scheduled bout, although MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani reported on Wednesday that Junior dos Santos vs. Stipe Moicic is also under consideration for the event.