Cain Velasquez and Antonio Silva will meet again. This time for the heavyweight title. Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images.
UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will defend his title in a rematch with Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 160 in Las Vegas, according to a report on Tuesday evening.
The bout will headline the card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 25.
Velasquez (11-1) regained the UFC heavyweight title in his last outing by defeating the man that took it from him, Junior dos Santos, at UFC 155 last December. The bout was mostly a one-side affair with Velasquez pounding away at dos Santos, giving the Brazilian heavyweight the first loss of his career.
Silva (18-4) shocked the MMA world by knocking out heavy favorite Alistair Overeem in his last bout at UFC 156 this past Feb. 2. Bigfoot opened up the third round by letting go a number of strikes that stunned Overeem and put an end to the Dutch striker’s hopes of facing Velasquez with the win.
Velasquez beat Silva in their first meeting at UFC 146 in a fight where the then-former champ brutalized his counterpart on the way to a technical knockout in the first round.
In addition to the Velasquez-Silva title fight, Overeem and dos Santos will face each other on the same card, according to a report. The two were supposed to face each other when dos Santos was champion, but a failed drug test prior to the match-up suspended Overeem for nine months and scratched any plans the UFC had at the time to put on the fight.
News of the UFC 160 match-ups was announced on Fuel TV’s UFC Tonight show.
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