A long-anticipated fight between former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem has been added to UFC Fight Night on December. 19 in Orlando. Broadcast plans for the preliminary card have yet to be announced. The hard-hitting Brazilian was last seen in December, when he went toe-to-toe with Stipe Miocic to claim a unanimous decision in a bruising five-rounder. It marked his third loss in four fights and saw him slide to 14th in the divisional rankings with the 30 year-old appearing to be in the most turbulent period of his career.
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Despite his lack of recent appearances in the octagon, “The Ultimate Fighter 5″ victor has remained in the news over the past year.
Diaz had been linked to a welterweight fight with Matt Brown earlier in the year, but that fell through after the Stockton native turned it down. He’ll now try to bounce back in one of his more high profile matchups to date in the UFC.
Meanwhile, Johnson will try to earn his fifth victory in his past six fights when he steps in against Diaz. He is coming off a unanimous decision win against Roy Nelson at UFC 185 in March.
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“The Menace” had previously won four straight against Edson Barboza, Melvin Guillard, Gleison Tibau and Joe Lauzon and had began to stir discussion about a potential title shot. If Johnson can rack up an impressive finish of the smack talking Diaz brother he could put himself right back in the title picture.
