Looks like the UFC’s heavyweight division just got a lot more interesting, as the winner of the UFC 155 title bout between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez already has his future opponent.
At the UFC 153 post-fight presser, UFC president Dana White stated that currently suspended heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem will get the next crack at the belt. MMA Junkie has the scoop.
“The winner of that fight will fight Overeem [in March or April],” White said bluntly.
JDS was originally scheduled to defend his title against “The Demolition Man” in May, but the former Strikeforce champion tested positive for elevated testosterone to epitestosterone levels and was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for nine months.
This led to the Brazilian boxing specialist defending his belt against a former champion, Frank Mir, at UFC 146. Dos Santos controlled the fight until earning a second round TKO stoppage.
On the same card, Velasquez badly bloodied and beat Antonio ‘Bigfoot” Silva, scoring a first round TKO, immediately putting his name back into title contention.
Dos Santos knocked out Velasquez in just over a minute when he won the title in November, so some fans questioned whether or not Cain would get a rematch or if JDS would wait for Overeem to serve his suspension.
Despite being suspended, Overeem had some fighting words for JDS back in July, stating that “he’s afraid to fight.”
The trash talk riled up “Cigano,” who told Dana White in a one-on-one meeting in August that he was indifferent to a rematch with Velasquez and wanted to “knock him [Overeem] out right now.”
Overeem is currently undefeated in his past 12 fights, most recently retiring former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar when he easily finished him in the first round of their UFC 141 bout in December.
Does Overeem deserve a title shot after over a year of inactivity inside the Octagon due to a drug test related suspension?
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