It appears UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will defend his title for the first time against Junior dos Santos on Nov. 19 at San Jose’s HP Pavilion.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting they were given news of the bout by UFC chairman Lorenzo Fertitta on Thursday.
Velasquez has not fought since he won the title from Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 on Oct. 23, 2010. The 28-year-old Velasquez dominated Lesnar, winning by TKO at the 4:12 mark of Round 1. The win took Velasquez’s record to 9-0 with eight of those decisions coming via KO or TKO.
Velasquez injured his shoulder at some point during his fight with Lesnar. The newly-crowned champion was forced to undergo surgery for the injury—a torn rotator cuff—in January.
His opponent on the Nov. 19 card, according to the Times, will be Junior dos Santos. Dos Santos defeated Shane Carwin June 11 at UFC 131, giving the former UFC interim heavyweight champion a brutal beating and forcing Carwin to take a trip to the emergency room following the fight.
The victory moved dos Santos’ record to 13-1 with only three of those fights, including his last two, going the distance.
Dos Santos originally opened as a slight favorite when the fight odds were announced; since that time, most websites are now listing Velasquez as the favorite.
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