Junior dos Santos-Alistair Overeem Heavyweight Title Bout Official for UFC 146

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An expected UFC heavyweight title pairing between Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem is now official, as the Las Vegas-based promotion announced Tuesday that the bout will take place at UFC 146.

Taking place May 26 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, UFC 146 was originally announced as the location for the upcoming heavyweight title bout by UFC executive Lorenzo Fertitta last month. However, the date and location of the expected contest were not announced officially until today.

Overeem earned his shot at dos Santos’ title by knocking out Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 this past December. A former Strikeforce heavyweight champion and Pride Fighting Championships standout, “The Demolition Man” has not lost since 2007, when he was knocked out by fellow Pride vet Sergei Kharitonov.

Since that defeat, Overeem has won 11 of 12 outings, his only blemish being a 2008 no-contest against Mirko Filipovic at Dream 6. Considered one of the finest strikers in the heavyweight division, Overeem won the K-1 world grand prix kickboxing title in 2010 and followed that triumph with a knockout of ex-UFC prospect Todd Duffee just three weeks later to capture the Dream interim heavyweight championship.

Dos Santos has not seen action since lifting the UFC heavyweight crown from Cain Velasquez at UFC on Fox 1 this past November. Following his 64-second knockout of the American Kickboxing Academy standout, dos Santos underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.

The heavy-handed Brazilian has won 10 of his 14 career outings by knockout and has yet to taste defeat in his UFC career, posting a perfect 8-0 record since joining the promotion in 2008. “Cigano” owns notable career victories over Fabricio Werdum, Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin and has never been knocked out.