Junior dos Santos vs Alistair Overeem Slated for UFC 146

After his destruction of Brock Lesnar at UFC 141, Alistair Overeem could add a UFC title to a long lists of accomplishments that include a Strikeforce championship as well as K-1 and Dream titles. But in order to accomplish such a feat, The Demolition Man is going to have to work a little harder than in his debut, as he faces a very accomplished striker in reigning UFC heavyweight champion, Junior dos Santos.

According to UFC officials, the much anticipated title bout already has a name, a time and a place, as UFC 146 takes place on May 26^th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. This will be dos Santos first title defense as well as Overeem’s first shot at a UFC belt.

The 27-year-old Brazilian is undefeated in his UFC career and an overall record of 14-1-0 (UFC: 8-0) with 10 knockouts. The last time dos Santo lost a fight dates back to Nov. of 2007 when he was submitted by Joaquim Ferreira via arm-bar at Brazil’s Team-Based MMA League, MTL.

For Overeem, this guy hasn’t been touched in years, as he’s riding an 11-fight win streak in MMA. In fact, you have to look all the way back to his light-heavyweight fighting days in order to find The Reem’s last defeat. The Dutchman was knocked out by former Russian kickboxing champion Sergei Kharitonov in the first round of K-1 Hero’s 10 in September of 2007. Since making his move to heavyweight, Overeem has demolished his competition.

Speaking of quality big guys doing work, UFC 146 will also consist of a must-see co-main event. Set to determine the No.1 contender in the UFC heavyweight division, two former champs will go head-to-head for a chance to face the winner of The Reem vs Cigano.

With an opportunity to avenge the only loss of his career, Cain Velazquez will take on multiple-time UFC champion Frank Mir. This fight is exciting from from many aspects that I can’t begin to explain. But by far, the most intriguing aspect about this bout is the fact that it’ll be Velazquez’s first appearance — after losing his title in one minute on national television — against a red-hot Mir. The BJJ Master comes in as one of the hottest fighters on the HW roster; winner of three straight bouts, including a Submission of the Year (kimura) victory over “Minotauro” Nogueira.

The rest of the UFC 146 fight card goes as follows:

• (14-1 MMA, 8-0 UFC) Junior dos Santos vs. (36-11 MMA, 1-0 UFC) Alistair Overeem
• (16-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) Frank Mir  vs. (9-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) Cain Velasquez
• (16-3 MMA, UFC Debut)Antonio Silva  vs. (16-7 MMA, 3-3 UFC) Roy Nelson
• (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) Edson Barboza  vs. (13-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) Evan Dunham
• (23-8 MMA, 0-2 UFC) Jason Miller  vs. (11-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) C.B. Dollaway
• (21-12 MMA, 4-3 UFC) Duane Ludwig  vs. (23-10 MMA, 4-4 UFC) Dan Hardy
• (14-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) Jacob Volkmann  vs. (12-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) Paul Sass
• (13-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) Darren Elkins  vs. (14-7 MMA, 1-0 UFC) Diego Brandao
• (13-6 MMA, 8-5 UFC) Gabriel Gonzaga  vs. (11-0 MMA, UFC Debut) Shane del Rosario
• (11-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) Kyle Kingsbury  vs. (17-2 MMA, UFC Debut) Glover Teixeira