A heavyweight matchup between former champ Junior Dos Santos and unbeaten rising contender Tai Tuivasa will headline December’s UFC Fight Night 142 lineup.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to MMAjunkie that Dos Santos (19-5 MMA, 13-4 UFC) will fight Tuivasa (8-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in a five-round main event. The person requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement of the fight, which was first reported by Combate.com.
UFC Fight Night 142 takes place Dec. 1 at Adelaide Entertainment Center in Adelaide, Australia. The card is expected to air on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass, though broadcast plans haven’t been finalized.
Dos Santos, No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie heavyweight rankings, will continue his quest to regain the UFC belt he held earlier in his career. “Cigano,” 34, failed in his most recent title bid against then-champ Stipe Miocic at UFC 211 in May 2017, but got back on track in July when he routed Blagoy Ivanov to a one-sided unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 133.
Looking to elevate his contender status at Dos Santos’ expense will be No. 13 Tuivasa, who is undefeated so far in his young career. The 25-year-old Australian has earned all but one of his career victories by knockout and is coming off a decision victory over former champ Andrei Arlovski at UFC 225 in June.
The latest UFC Fight Night 142 lineup includes:
- Junior Dos Santos vs. Tai Tuivasa
- Ben Nguyen vs. Wilson Reis
- Kai Kara-France vs. Ashkan Mokhtarian
- Paul Craig vs. Jim Crute
For more on UFC Fight Night 142, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
