Dong Hyun Kim will try to rebound from the first loss of his career, but he’ll have to do it against a fighter also looking for a little redemption.
Kim will face Sean Pierson in a welterweight bout at UFC 141, the promotion’s year-ending pay-per-view at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The UFC announced the fight Monday.
UFC 141 will be headlined by the promotional debut of former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, who will be immediately tested by the return of former UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar.
Kim (14-1-1, 1 NC, 5-1, 1 NC UFC) was drilled by a Carlos Condit flying knee at UFC 132 in July, then finished with punches on the ground for the first loss of his career – technically. At UFC 94, Kim lost a split decision to Karo Parisyan, but that loss was overturned to a no contest when Parisyan’s drug test came back positive for banned substances.
Prior to his loss to Condit, who went on to get a top contenders fight with BJ Penn that turned into a title fight against Georges St-Pierre at the end of this month after UFC president Dana White pulled Nick Diaz from the fight, Kim had won three straight with decision wins over TJ Grant, Amir Sadollah and Nate Diaz.
Pierson (11-5, 1-1 UFC) was riding a six-fight winning streak going into a bout with Jake Ellenberger at UFC 129 in Toronto. But the Toronto native was stopped just over halfway through the first round by Ellenberger, who went on to fight with Jake Shields last month that he won with a devastating 53-second TKO.
UFC 141 will be Pierson’s first fight on American soil since the third fight of his career – more than 11 years ago. The other 15 fights in his pro career have come in his native Canada.
Aside from the heavyweight contenders bout between Overeem and Lesnar, UFC 141 is also expected to include a light heavyweight bout between Alexander Gustafsson and Vladimir Matyushenko and a welterweight bout between Jon Fitch and Johny Hendricks.