Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos will at long last have a chance to silence the chatter from 265-pound rival Alistair Overeem when they throw hands at the UFC on FOX 17 mixed martial arts (MMA) event on December 19, 2015 inside Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.
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This is one of the most intense rivalries in the heavyweight division despite the fact that the two have never stepped into the cage together before. That title shot was revoked when Overeem failed a pre-fight drug test due to elevated testosterone levels.
As some of you will remember, this isn’t the first time JDS and Overeem have been scheduled to fight. The 31-year-old Brazilian is 11-2 in the UFC, with both losses coming to Cain Velasquez in title fights. The former champ went on to knock out Mark Hunt on that card.
Diaz (17-10) last fought in December 2014 and he missed weight for the bout losing a unanimous decision to Rafael dos Anjos at a 160.6-pound catchweight. The main event will see lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos defending his title against Donald Cerrone. He scored a victory over Stipe Miocic at UFC on FOX 13.
Diaz had come into that fight after nearly a year out in protest at his current UFC salary and weighed in nearly five pounds over the 155lb limit.
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Johnson (16-9), the runner-up on season 12 of TUF, most recently saw his four fight wins streak snapped in the form a controversial split decision loss to Beneil Dariush earlier this month at UFC Fight Night 74.
