· Junior Dos Santos And Roy Nelson To Square Off At UFC 117

· Article author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Posted on 06/09 at 07:24 PM

A long-rumored bout between Junior Dos Santos (11-1-0) and Roy Nelson (15-4-0) is now official. The two heavyweights will square off at "UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen" in August.

MMAjunkie.com initially reported the bout back in May. Now the UFC has formally announced the fight will be televised on the pay-per-view portion of the card.

UFC 117 is slated for Aug. 7 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. The main event is a middleweight showdown between titleholder Anderson Silva and contender Chael Sonnen.

Dos Santos is undefeated in the UFC, winning all five of his bouts inside the Octagon. The Brazilian made quick work of Gabriel Gonzaga in his last outing, scoring a TKO via punches in the first round at “UFC on Versus 1” last March. Of the 25-year-old’s 11 career MMA victories, eight have been TKOs.

Nelson, the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter: Season 10,” has back-to-back triumphs inside the Octagon. Last December the 33-year-old knocked out Brendan Schaub in the show’s finale, and then scored another brutal knockout against Stefan Struve at “UFC Fight Night 21” this past March.

The UFC has slowly built up a strong stable of heavyweights. In July current strap-holder Brock Lesnar and interim titleholder Shane Carwin will unify the heavyweight championship in a highly anticipated match-up at UFC 116. Cain Velasquez is also in the championship contender mix with his impressive undefeated MMA record. The winner of Dos Santos vs. Nelson figures to launch his name amongst these, right into the heavyweight elite.

In addition to MMA Spot, Patrick also covers MMA for Examiner.com.