Stipe Miocic will look to move one step closer to a heavyweight title shot as he takes on former champ Junior dos Santos in the co-main event of UFC 173.
The UFC confirmed the matchup Monday.
Miocic (11-1) is coming off back-to-back wins over veterans Gabriel Gonzaga and Roy Nelson. The 31-year-old, who works as a firefighter in Ohio when not training, also holds UFC wins over Joey Beltran, Phil De Fries and the late Shane del Rosario.
Dos Santos (16-3) will look to bounce back from a fifth-round TKO loss to Cain Velasquez in the UFC 166 main event last October. The Brazilian has never lost two in a row and is the only man to ever defeat Velasquez. It was believed dos Santos would be paired with fellow knockout artist Alistair Overeem, but Overeem was not interested in that matchup, according to UFC president Dana White.
UFC 173 takes place May 24 in Las Vegas and is headlined by a middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida. Weidman was initially set to face Vitor Belfort at the event, however after the Nevada State Athletic Commission banned Testosterone Replacement Therapy, Belfort was removed from the card due to his frequent use of the treatment.
Here is the proposed UFC 173 fight card to date:
— Chris Weidman vs Lyoto Machida
— Junior dos Santos vs Stipe Miocic
— T.J. Dillashaw vs Takeya Mizugaki
— Jamie Varner vs James Krause
— Michael Chiesa vs Francisco Trinaldo
— Chris Holdsworth vs Kyung-Ho Kang
— Tony Ferguson vs Katsunori Kikuno
— Al Iaquinta vs Mitch Clarke
— Yves Edwards vs Piotr Hallmann
— Sam Sicilia vs Doo Ho Choi
