Alistair Overeem Turned Down Title Shot in 2012 To Fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 141

ESPN's Brett Okamoto is reporting, among other details, that Alistair Overeem turned down a UFC heavyweight title fight in 2012 in favor of fighting Brock Lesnar before the end of the year.

The reigning king of the 265-pound division, Cain Velasquez, will come back from rotator cuff surgery to defend his heavyweight title against Junior dos Santos at the UFC's first event on Fox.

The event is slated to go down on November 12, at the Honda Center, in Anaheim, California.

Therefore, it would not be realistic to expect the winner to defend the belt before ringing in the new year.  

Overeem explained to Okamoto his reasoning for taking the fight with Lesnar, who lost the heavyweight title to Velasquez at UFC 121, as opposed to the winner of Velasquez vs. dos Santos. 

"I'm a fighter who wants to fight a lot," Overeem said. "If I had to wait for a title fight, I'd basically be waiting until next year. They came up with this option and I wanted it.

"I'm very excited to fight Brock. He's a big guy. We have different styles. I think it's going to be very exciting for fans."

The fight with "The Reem" will be Brock's first fight in approximately 14 months after he was sidelined with his second bout of diverticulitis.  

This time, Brock opted to have 12 inches of his colon removed in hopes of preventing a relapse in the future.  

Not surprisingly, UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta was very supportive of the UFC 141 headlining fight.  

Speaking about the UFC's long rumored signing of Overeem, Fertitta stated:

"We wanted him to fight for the heavyweight championship but it didn't work out with that fight happening on Nov. 12," Fertitta said.

"He didn't want to wait around. To his credit, he wants to fight the best. Brock is a huge name guy."

Also worth noting is that the Overeem vs. Lesnar will be scheduled for five rounds, as well as the fact that "The Demolition Man's" contract with the UFC is an exclusive one. 

In his most recent stint with Strikeforce, Overeem competed with several outside organizations including DREAM and K1, arguably the most prominent professional kickboxing league in the world.   

He was a heavyweight champion within both organizations. 

UFC 141 is tentatively scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Additionally, while it has yet to be formally announced, this bout is expected to be a heavyweight title eliminator.