How much does Junior dos Santos have left?
Yes, we’ll grant you, this might seem like a perplexing question at first glance, given Dos Santos enters this matchup the winner of three out of his past four fights.
And, yes, the commentariat in this sport can veer a bit too far on the “what have you done for me lately” end of things from time to time.
Even with those caveats, it’s not hard to look back at JDS’ last fight and wonder if that might have been the beginning of the end of his long run at or near the top.
It’s not that he lost to Ngannou (there’s that guy, again). It’s the way it happened. Dos Santos is known for his legendary chin in victory or defeat. Like the brutal beatings he absorbed for nine-plus rounds in his second and third fights with Cain Velasquez, and the 25-minute war of attrition he won from Stipe Miocic in their first bout in 2014.
Ngannou simply steamrolled Dos Santos, though, and crumpled him in 71 seconds. That could just be about Ngannou. Or it could be that there’s finally too much wear and tear on JDS.
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