What’s Next for Junior Dos Santos? Three Potential Opponents
Now that Dos Santos made it clear to the division that he’s officially back, here are three potential matchups he should take next.
Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesOn Saturday, Junior Dos Santos (20-5) proved he’s still a contender in the Heavyweight division.
Tai Tuivasa (8-1) was undefeated and mowing down the competition. With the exception of Andrei Arlovski, Tuivasa knocked out all of his opponents. That is until Dos Santos put an end to his undefeated streak in dominant fashion this past weekend.
Now that Dos Santos made it clear to the division that he’s officially back, let’s take a look three potential matchups he should take next:
Curtis Blaydes
Curtis Blaydes (10-2) was on a roll.
He reeled off five straight wins before having a minor hiccup against Francis Ngannou.
Well it was more than just a minor hiccup—t was a first-round knockout loss.
Be that as it may Blaydes was potentially one win away from a title shot. He needs a fight as soon as possible in order to get back on track. Dos Santos looked great in his knockout win over Tuivasa but he still needs a few more bouts before he can jump right back into title contention. Blaydes seems like he fits the bill.
It’s a matchup of two top contenders. If Dos Santos manages to defeat Blaydes then he will be proving that he is on his way to a title shot in the near future.
Alistair Overeem
Not only does Dos Santos want this fight next but it makes all the sense in the world for these two legends to run back their 2015 bout.
Alistair Overeem (44-17) is coming off of a first round knockout of previously undefeated Sergey Pavlovich. Both Dos Santos and Overeem looked dominant in their most recent bouts. A win over Overeem won’t exactly vault Dos Santos up the rankings. What it will do however is wipe the bad taste Overeem left in his mouth when he knocked out Dos Santos in their first bout. This one is personal.
Let’s see how the rematch will play out.
Francis Ngannou
Junior Dos Santos vs Francis Ngannou (12-3) would be a non-stop action packed fight. This bout was actually scheduled for UFC 215 last year but was cancelled due to Dos Santos failing a drug test. Now that he has been cleared by USADA this fight should get back on the board.
Ngannou picked up a huge victory in his last fight by knocking out Curtis Blaydes in less than one minute. It was a victory Ngannou needed in order to stop his two fight losing streak. During that streak Ngannou looked timid and unsure which is a far cry from how he normally fights. In his bout against Blaydes he looked like his normal super aggressive self.
A bout between these two hard hitting big men is sure to end in a knockout. Although the same was said when Ngannou took on Derrick Lewis in what turned out to be a horrific matchup. Ngannou however seems to be back on track and Dos Santos proved that he is still a top echelon fighter.
Let’s hope that this match gets booked next. It’ll be bombs away!
