Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez II Slated For UFC 152 Headliner

(Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

The UFC’s return event to one of the top MMA markets in Canada has a headlining bout as UFC heavyweight champion Junior “Cigano” dos Santos is expected to make his second title defense at UFC 152 in Toronto, Canada, against the man he took the belt from in November of 2011, former champion Cain Velasquez.

UFC president Dana White confirmed that the bout is in the works for the Sept. 22 event in a post-fight media scrum with reporters after the “UFC on FX 3: Johnson vs. McCall post-fight press conference in Sunrise, Florida.

While bout agreements have yet to be signed, it is very likely the rematch between two elite heavyweights serve as the main event for the organizations third trip to Toronto.

Dos Santos (15-1) has stopped seven of his nine UFC opponents inside the distance, one of them being Velasquez, who the Brazilian knocked out in just 64-seconds at UFC on FOX 1 less than one year ago. Dos Santos successfully defended his championship for the first time with a second round knockout of Frank Mir at UFC 146 and will attempt to add Velasquez’s name to his impressive resume for a second time when he heads north to fight in Canada for the second time in his career.

Velasquez (10-1) was last seen in the octagon just prior to dos Santos’ title defense against Mir when he beat down Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the co-main event at UFC 146. The fight was an absolutely bloodbath and although he lost the belt to dos Santos just two fights ago, Velasquez’s performance against Silva was enough to earn the American Kickboxing Academy product a shot at redemption.

UFC 152 goes down September 22 from the Air Canada Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The get the latest on UFC 152, click here. For up-to-date versions of all upcoming fight cards, head over to the rumors section.

Mike Bohn, founder and lead writer of FightCove.com, wrote this article. You can follow Mike on Twitter at @FightCoveMike. Also, follow @FightCove on Twitter and “Like” Fight Cove on Facebook.