(But other than that, how was the fight, Antonio? / Photo via Getty Images)
As first reported by a “random Irish person” and officially confirmed last night on UFC Tonight, Cain Velasquez will defend his heavyweight title at UFC 160 (May 25th, Las Vegas) in a rematch against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, just one year after Velasquez tore Silva apart at UFC 146. Though Bigfoot is coming off back-to-back stoppages of Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem, the news still comes as a bit of a surprise; even Bigfoot’s management felt that he should win a couple more fights before testing his fate against Cain Velasquez again.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many better options in the heavyweight division right now. Velasquez won’t fight his teammate Daniel Cormier, and the rest of the UFC’s heavyweight contenders either have their next fight booked already, or lack the kind of hype that Bigfoot currently carries after his comeback win over The Reem. And what are you going to do, have your champion sit out until a totally legitimate contender emerges? Come on. That’s not how you run a business.
So will Velasquez smash Antonio Silva for the second time, or should we start preparing for “The Bigfoot Era”? (Step one: Stock up on canned goods. Step two: Limber up.) In other UFC 160 heavyweight booking news…
Fresh off his five-round thumping at the hands of Cain Velasquez at UFC 155, former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos will return to action against the aforementioned Alistair Overeem, who saw his stock plummet when he imploded against Antonio Silva at UFC 156. The optimist in me says that Overeem has learned his lesson about underestimating his opponents, and will be much more focused in his next outings. But who knows, maybe Overeem is nothing without his drugs. (Cro Cop’s words, not ours.) Your predictions, please.