Last night the UFC officially announced a heavyweight title rematch between Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez, so where does that leave the division’s other top contenders? We’ve got the answers below.
Junior dos Santos (No.2) Vs Alistair Overeem (No.9)
It’s not official yet, but on Saturday’s ‘Fight Companion’ podcast, Joe Rogan let it slip that he’d just done a Countdown voiceover for Junior dos Santos Vs Alistair Overeem.
This is a fight that the UFC has been trying to make for a few years, so from that perspective it makes sense, though as the man who’s closest in the current rankings to getting the next title shot perhaps he should have been facing someone higher up the ladder for his next fight.
Dos Santos only has two losses on his MMA record in the past seven years and they both came at the hands of one man, former champion Cain Velasquez, while Overeem has been attempting to put a disappointing run of form behind him in the best way possible with two victories over Stefan Struve and Roy Nelson now under his belt in the past year.
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Stipe Miocic (No.3) Vs Ben Rothwell (No.6)
Another fighter who’s almost within reach of a title shot, Stipe Miocic is now expected to fight Ben Rothwell in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 76 in Ireland on October 24th according to MMAFighting.com.
Miocic has won four of his last five fights, with his only defeat coming by unanimous decision in a very close fight with Junior dos Santos late last year.
Meanwhile, Rothwell has shaken off his largely inconsistent UFC run of late with three stoppage victories in a row.
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Andrei Arlovski (No.4) Vs Frank Mir (No.10)
Two former UFC heavyweight champions and true veterans of the sport, Andrei Arlovski and Frank Mir will square off in the co-main event of next months UFC 191 show in Las Vegas.
Arlovski has been a surprise success story in the UFC over the past year, putting together a trio of wins since returning to the promotion in what appeared to be the twilight of his career, including first round stoppages of both Antonio Silva and Travis Browne.
Mir has also been attempting to forge a late career resurgence, shaking off a four-fight losing streak with back-to-back first round KO victories over Antonio Silva and Todd Duffee.
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