Dos Santos to fight Miocic at UFC 173

Junior Dos Santos is shown during a UFC 160 bout on May 25, 2013, in Las Vegas. Dos Santos will fight Stipe Miocic at UFC 173, slated for Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Stipe Miocic is shown here in a May 26, 2012 bout in Las Vegas. Miocic will fight Junior Dos Santos at UFC 173, slated for Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

A fight between Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight contenders Junior dos Santos and Stipe Miocic has been added to the organization’s UFC 173 card, slated for Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas.

The event, which is headlined by a middleweight title bout between Lyoto Machida and Chris Weidman, is scheduled for May 24 at MGM Grand.

Sources close to the UFC confirmed the bout to the Review-Journal on Monday evening.

Dos Santos is a former UFC heavyweight champion. He lost the belt to Cain Velasquez in December 2012 and then lost again to Velasquez in November.

Miocic has won consecutive decisions over Roy Nelson and Gabriel Gonzaga since suffering the only loss of his career to Stefan Struve in September 2012.

Dos Santos was briefly attached to a bout against Alistair Overeem, but UFC president Dana White told the Review-Journal in February that Overeem was not interested in taking the fight.

The bout between Miocic and dos Santos will serve as the co-main event.