Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos will return to the Octagon in December.
The UFC officially announced that “Cigano” will take on rising heavyweight Stipe Miocic in the UFC on FOX 13 main event in Phoenix, Ariz., on Dec. 13. MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani first reported the bout on Wednesday’s edition of UFC Tonight.
dos Santos (16-3) will make his return to the cage after a one-sided loss to reigning champion Cain Velasquez in October. He was scheduled to face off against Miocic in May in Brazil, but was forced out of the bout with a broken hand.
Miocic (12-1) attempts to get the biggest win of his MMA career following straight victories over Roy Nelson, Gabriel Gonzaga and Fabio Maldonado. The only loss of his MMA career came in a second-round TKO to Stefan Struve in 2012.
Scheduled for the US Airways Center, UFC on FOX 13 also features Alistair Overeem vs. Stefan Struve, Jamie Varner vs. Drew Dober, Derek Brunson vs. Ed Herman, Joe Ellenberger vs. Bryan Barberena and Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Matt Mitrione.