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[trustkill]

Velasquez-Silva 2, Dos Santos-Overeem booked for UFC 160 in May | News

For the second straight Memorial Day weekend, the UFC is going to get heavy with its pay-per-view.

The UFC 160 main event will be a heavyweight title fight between champion Cain Velasquez (11-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva (18-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC), a rematch from this past Memorial Day weekend. The co-main event features former champ Junior Dos Santos (15-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) against Alistair Overeem (36-12 MMA, 1-1 UFC).

UFC President Dana White first revealed the planned matchups to fans while in Ireland prior to heading to London for UFC on FUEL TV 7. Ariel Helwani of FUEL TV's "UFC Tonight" said on Tuesday's show that White confirmed the bouts.

UFC 160 takes place May 25 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card will air on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook. The UFC's 2012 Memorial Day weekend show, UFC 146 in Las Vegas, featured an all-heavyweight main card.

Velasquez will defend his heavyweight title for the first time since regaining it in December against Dos Santos at UFC 155. In that bout, Velasquez dominated Dos Santos for five rounds in a rematch from their UFC on FOX 1 meeting, which saw Dos Santos win with a 64-second knockout. The fight with Silva will be his second – he dominated "Bigfoot" at UFC 146 to get a shot at regaining his title against Dos Santos, who was the only man to beat him.

Silva will be looked at by some as perhaps a surprise challenger for Velasquez given that he was beaten rather easily by him at UFC 146. But Silva rebounded from that loss to beat Travis Browne this past October at UFC on FX 5. And he followed that up at UFC 156 earlier this month with a stunning upset of Overeem. In that fight, Overeem pretty much had his way with Silva for the first 10 minutes of the fight. But quickly in the third round, Silva came out slugging. He pushed Overeem to the fence and began landing at will until Overeem was on the canvas. After the fight, White said even though Velasquez had beaten Silva soundly in their first meeting, the way he went through Overeem put him in consideration for a shot at the title. Now he'll get it.

Dos Santos, of course, will look to rebound from his loss to Velasquez at UFC 155 in December. That was his first loss in the UFC and came in his second defense of the heavyweight title after a win over Frank Mir at UFC 146. He'll get a crack at Overeem, a man he was itching to fight while he was champion. He acknowledged Velasquez had earned his shot in December, but didn't deny he was not a fan of Overeem and wanted to fight him.

Overeem will try to climb back from his first loss since September 2007. The elite kickboxer was supposed to have a shot at Dos Santos' heavyweight title at UFC 146, but failed a pre-fight drug test with elevated testosterone-to-epitestosterone levels. The Nevada State Athletic Commission would not consider licensing him for a period of nine months, which amounted, effectively, to a non-suspension suspension for the Dutch fighter. His return earlier this month at UFC 156 was supposed to be a top contender's fight for him, with a win securing him a shot at Velasquez. But a loss set the former Strikeforce champion back in the pack.

Rumor is confirmed. Guess the have to do what they have to do. Shows how thin the HW division is. I think the co-main is more compelling than the title fight. Wonder what the betting odds will be.

Interesting that the fight will be held in Vegas. Wonder if Alistair will roll the dice and transform back into Ubereem or play it safe. Wonder if the UFC will fly him in for a pre-fight press conference too.

[MMA4EVERRR]

I'm fine with the HW title match.

I believe anything can happen in a rematch regardless of how lopsided the first match went, i.e. Couture/Liddel, JDS/Cain 1. Maybe this time Silva comes into a fight with his ego in check and sets up a leg kick before he throws one. However, I have Cain winning 1st round TKO, give or take the bloodbath.

JDS/Overeem fight speaks for itself. Both guys coming into the fight with epic beating, and we all can bet that their striking AND striking defense will be heavily trained for.

Although we have the Struve/Hunt fight in the works, I think winner of that should face JDS/Overeem for #1 contender. I'm hoping Werdum beats Big Nog and faces Cain by year's end.

And who knows, if Gonzaga beats Browne, and Nelson beats Kongo, those 2 could finally have their matchup and could possibly be a #1 contender matchup too.

[Leucoethiops]

After the showing he had against Velasquez, I would NOT want to be the guy fighting Dos Santos in his comeback bout; not because he'd knock me out on a bad day, but because on a good, motivated day, I'd be a murder victim.

[TBEAR]

AO does not deserve a shot at JDS...

AO got caught cheating came back from suspention and gets KTFO by Bigfoot and he gets a formwe champ...thats bullshit.

AO should be fighting someone like Travis Browne.

[JustScrap]

I honestly thought that Barnett was going to be signed and automatically fought for the title. It's unfortunate that the UFC and him couldn't come to terms on a deal. Cormier is the most deserving heavyweight challenger right now...its too bad that him and Cain are training partners because that would be an awesome fight.

I understand why Silva is getting the shot but I just can't get excited about the match up. I just don't see him being able to pull out the win. Anything can happen in MMA but I just don't see it.

[MIZjitsZOU]

Definitely not the most anticipated rematch, but I will watch. Hopefully Bigfoot will come in with a gameplan that does not involve throwing a catchable leg kick right off the bat. As for the co main now that should be fireworks. I see JDS as the harder puncher. Would be interested to see how he recovers from an AO barrage.

[Qball1974]

AO vs JDS is soooo not gonna happen, AO is checking his list of outs as we speak.

[KevoOnTheRadio]

Originally Posted by Qball1974

AO vs JDS is soooo not gonna happen, AO is checking his list of outs as we speak.

Back to crushing cans in Asia, you thinks?

[hass]

AO is under pressure. Chances are of him going 0-2. Same with Bigfoot's record against Cain. If these matches happen, I'm calling the result being a rubber match between Cain and Dos Santos. Not that bold of a prediction, but hard to see anything else as a result...

[JPeezy]

Originally Posted by TBEAR

AO does not deserve a shot at JDS...

AO got caught cheating came back from suspention and gets KTFO by Bigfoot and he gets a formwe champ...thats bullshit.

AO should be fighting someone like Travis Browne.

Nah, he has earned the ass whooping he's about to receive. There is bad blood between the two, and excellent striking games by each. It all makes for a perfect match-up.