UFC Heavyweight Title bout in Junior dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem officially announced as UFC 146 main event

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The next UFC Heayvweight Championship bout will officially take place on May 26 in the main event of UFC 146, as the UFC on Tuesday announced that Junior dos Santos will defend that belt against Alistair Overeem in Las Vegas.

The date and location planned for the fight had been revealed by UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta in February, but the fight and the event itself had not been officially confirmed by the organization until Tuesday.

Dos Santos captured the belt last November, knocking down Cain Velasquez and earning a referee stoppage with follow up strikes on the ground in just 64 seconds. The win was his eighth straight in the UFC, and ninth straight victory overall.

Overeem earned his shot at the UFC Title with his dominant first round victory over Brock Lesnar in his organization debut in December at UFC 141. The former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion and 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix kickboxing champion blasted Lesnar early and often with body strikes, finally sending him to the ground with a brutal kick to the liver, and earning a stoppage after another vicious strike to the body on the ground. The loss sent Lesnar into immediate retirement, and Overeem hopes to follow up with a title-winning effort this May.

[Junior dos Santos art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

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