Junior Dos Santos To Fight Overeem At UFC Fight Night

On Tuesday, the UFC announced that heavyweights Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem will also be fighting on the card.

Former UFC heavyweight champion, Junior dos Santos (17-3), will return from another long layoff to take on former Strikeforce heavyweight champion, Alistair Overeem (39-14-1 NC), at UFC on FOX 17. A bout in 2012 fell through after Overeem tested positive for an elevated epitestosterone-to-testosterone ratio, and in 2013, he had to drop out of scheduled fight due to injury.

The two fighters have gone back-and-forth on social media.

Dos Santos hasn’t been seen since taking a controversial decision over Stipe Miocic in December.

UFC on FOX 17 will be held at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida on December 19th. “Cigano” was hoping his next outing would be against champ Fabricio Werdum, but the UFC recently announced Cain Velasquez would be granted an immediate chance to reclaim his throne.

Now ranked at No. 8 in the UFC heavyweight standing, Overeem is riding high on a two-fight winning streak, scoring a first-round knockout victory over Stefan Struve in December 2014 before dominantly outpointing Roy Nelson three months later.

“I don’t choose opponents, but I’m not gonna lie – it will feel great to shut this guy up”, dos Santos posted on his Instagram following the announcement. A lightweight title fight between dos Anjos and Donald Cerrone will serve as the main event.