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While the heavyweight bout between Junior Dos Santos and Roy Nelson on next week's UFC 117 card was expected to have title implications in the heavyweight division, it's now been confirmed.
On Thursdays new episode of ESPN 2's MMA Live, UFC President Dana White said that the winner of this fight will take on the winner of October's Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez bout at UFC 121 for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
With the fight now confirmed as a #1 contender fight, it takes on even more significance. The card is stacked already, and with this an official #1 contender's fight the UFC can push this event even further.
The card airs live on pay-per-view next Saturday from the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., headlined by the UFC Middleweight Championship bout between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen.
Penick's Analysis: Again, it's nice to get a clear picture of a title division and to have set #1 contender fights to get the next challenger set. Whereas we still don't have a clue what's going on in the Strikeforce heavyweight picture, the next two Championship matchups are already in line. This is going to be an excellent fight, one where both fighters legitimately can win, and an impressive performance from either fighter certainly merits a title shot.
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