Junior dos Santos recently confirmed an upcoming fight with fellow UFC heavyweight fighter Roy Nelson via his Twitter account. The two will face each other at UFC 117, currently scheduled to take place on August 7, in Oakland California.
Nelson was originally set to fight French fighter Cheick Kongo. That match-up was scrapped after Kongo was forced out of the bout due to a back injury.
Nelson (15-4) is quickly becoming one of the most popular fighters in the UFC. Thus far he has proven a fighter doesn’t need to have a great physique in order to be consider a legitimate threat to a title. Nelson was the winner on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter when he defeated Brendan Schaub last December. He followed that up with a quick knockout win over Stefan Struve in just 39 seconds in March.
Dos Santos (11-1) has skyrocketed up the heavyweight rankings since making his UFC debut in 2008 at UFC 90 with a knockout win over Fabricio Werdum. He followed that up with wins over Struve, Mirko Cro Cop, Gilbert Yvel, and most recently over Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC on Versus in March. “Cigano” is considered by many fans and critics to be the top heavyweight fighter in the division behind Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, and Cain Velasquez.
UFC 117 will be main evented by UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva defending his belt against number one contender Chael Sonnen.
