Tag: Junior dos Santos

Triller announces Triad Combat 2 fight card filled with MMA notables

Check out the officially announced bouts for Triller Triad Combat 2, which features a number of MMA noteables.

Triller’s Triad Combat series returns to Texas for its second event.

Triad Combat 2 will take place in Houston on Feb. 26 at the Toyota Center featuring fights and a rock concert. The first event took place on Nov. 27, 2021, in Arlington, Texas, and featured a main event fight between Frank Mir and Kubrat Pulev, along with performances by Metallica.

The musical act for this event is yet to be announced, however, Triller has booked five fights under the Triad Combat ruleset.

[autotag]Quinton Jackson[/autotag] and [autotag]Shannon Briggs[/autotag] will once again serve as coaches for the teams of MMA fighters and boxers, while Nick Cannon will also return as host of the evening’s festivities.

Check out the officially announced bouts below.

Ex-UFC champ Junior Dos Santos targeted to fight Kubrat Pulev in Triad Combat

Junior Dos Santos has signed a deal with Triller and is expected to debut in early 2022.

[autotag]Junior Dos Santos[/autotag]’ first fight since his departure from the UFC is in the works.

The former UFC heavyweight champion has signed with Triller and is expected to fight [autotag]Kubrat Pulev[/autotag] in Triad Combat in early 2022, with late February targeted. A Triller official confirmed the news to MMA Junkie following an initial report from TMZ on Tuesday morning.

Triad Combat is a new style of fighting launched by Triller last month. It pits MMA fighters vs. boxers under a set of rules intended to “level the playing field.”

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Dos Santos, 37, hasn’t fought since December 2020 when he suffered a second-round TKO loss to current UFC interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane. The defeat extended his losing streak to four and ended his 12-year run with the UFC. Since then, the Brazilian has made his pro wrestling debut with AEW and appeared on its programming several times with American Top Team owner Dan Lambert and teammates.

Meanwhile, Pulev is coming off a devastating, standing TKO win over former UFC champion Frank Mir in the main event of Triller’s inaugural Triad Combat event on Nov. 27. The 40-year-old holds a professional boxing record of 28-2 with the two loses coming in title fights against Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko.

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Wacth Junior Dos Santos get slammed through a table in his AEW debut match

If former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos decides that pro wrestling is his next career calling, it just might work out.

If former UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Junior Dos Santos[/autotag] decides that pro wrestling is his next career calling, it just might work out.

It’s been an interesting three months with the Dan Lambert and American Top Team storyline on AEW television, with killer promo after killer promo and great segment after great segment. All of it led to the first member of ATT partaking in an actual match Friday on “AEW Rampage,” with Dos Santos stepping up for a six-man tag match with partners Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky against Chris Jericho, Jake Hager and Sammy Guevara.

And you know what? Dos Santos held his own nicely on the big stage!

The high spot for JDS was taking a bump from Hager, who slammed him through the announcers table outside of the ring. For it to look as good as it did, JDS had to sell it properly – and he did.

Check this out (via Twitter):

All in all, this was some pretty solid in-ring work from JDS for it being his first time in a match. Dos Santos doesn’t have any sort of long-term contract in place with AEW, but he told MMA Junkie’s Danny Segura this week that he’s not ruling out pro wrestling as the next chapter of his career.

Count us in.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

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Junior Dos Santos eyes a move to boxing, but heavyweights with ‘enough courage’ are hard to find

Junior Dos Santos has plenty of options on the table, but he won’t rush his return to action.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Former UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Junior Dos Santos[/autotag] is looking for a fight, and it could be in the boxing ring.

Dos Santos was in attendance for 2021 PFL Playoffs 3 in Hollywood, Fla., and discussed his options going forward. The Brazilian last competed at UFC 256 against now-interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane, in a fight he lost via second-round TKO.

The loss marked the fourth in a row for the former champ, which led to his unceremonious exit from the UFC. Now, the Brazilian striker is carefully reviewing his options for the best move going forward, and according to him, there have been plenty of talks with many different organizations.

“We were talking with bare-knuckle (BKFC), Bellator, PFL, some boxing conversations as well,” Dos Santos told MMA Junkie recently. “I would love to do a boxing fight, but it’s hard to find heavyweights with enough courage to take a fight. These guys are just talking, but let’s see what’s gonna happen.

“I’m not in a rush. I’m enjoying my time and as soon as we have a good deal, we’re gonna move on. My next step is, and I feel like it’s an important step, I just don’t want to go ahead and do it. I want to do it right.”

Despite the recent losing skid, Dos Santos believes he still has plenty left in the tank and hasn’t lost the desire to compete. However, he admits that his focus wasn’t where it needed to be in recent outings.

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“I really enjoy fighting,” Dos Santos said. “My goal today is to show all the people that support me all the time that I’m still here. I can perform well, I train very hard, and all my skills – actually, because of all my experience, I think that I’m now even a better fighter. But some things happened that didn’t go very well because my mind wasn’t 100 percent there.

“A lot of things changed in my life, so I am learning how to deal with them. … I think it’s normal, it’s part of the process. Unfortunately, I had some negative results, but I’m looking forward to the next step.”

If Dos Santos had his choice, he would love to take a boxing match next, but that would require a fellow heavyweight to sign a contract to step inside the ring with him. However, a return to MMA is not out of the picture as well, because that is where he made his name in combat sports.

Watch the full interview with Dos Santos in the video above.

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Every UFC trilogy ranked ahead of Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor 3

Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor will meet in the 14th trilogy fight in UFC history when they clash at UFC 264.

Another chapter in the long story of UFC trilogy fights takes place Saturday at UFC 264.

[autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] and [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] will clash for a third and likely final time – 2,483 days after they first fought at UFC 178 in September 2014.

McGregor (22-5 MMA, 10-3 UFC) won the initial meeting by first-round TKO. In the rematch more than six years later, Poirier (27-6 MMA, 19-5 UFC) got redemption with a second-round TKO at UFC 257 in January.

Now the two lightweight contenders will compete one final time in the winner-takes-all rubber match.

It will be the 14th trilogy fight in company history, and ahead of UFC 264, we rank the others that have happened so far. Check out our list below, from worst to best.

Scott Coker: Josh Barnett, Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem among those in talks for Fedor Emelianenko

Plenty of hands were raised when Bellator announced Fedor Emelianenko is returning this October.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – When Bellator announced [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag]’s return Friday morning, a lot of hands went up according to promotion president Scott Coker.

While the announcement revealed Emelianenko (39-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) will fight Oct. 23 at VTB Arena in Moscow, the opponent has still not been decided. Following Bellator 261 on Friday, Coker was pressed on potential matchmaking options and revealed a few of the names he’s been talking to in recent days.

“Believe me, there is no shortage of opponents (for) Russia right now,” Coker said at a post-fight news conference. “Listen, the managers of all the free agents are calling. [autotag]Josh Barnett[/autotag] was texting me today. I talked to ([autotag]Junior Dos Santos[/autotag]’) manager a couple days ago. [autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag]. The list goes on and on and on.”

Barnett (35-8 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) is currently under contract with Bellator, though he has not competed for the organization – or at all, since 2016. He’s been vocal about his desire for the Emelianenko matchup, something he asked for publicly as recently as Friday.

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Dos Santos (21-9) was released from the UFC in March and has not signed with another organization.

Overeem (47-19), who was released the same day as Dos Santos, recently announced he signed with GLORY Kickboxing. However, the terms of his contract and its exclusivity pertaining to MMA is not known. Additionally, Bellator and GLORY have cross-promoted in the past.

Coker said one matchup he has not considered and looked into is former UFC middleweight champion [autotag]Anderson Silva[/autotag] (34-11), who defeated boxing star Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. by split decision in an exhibition match June 19.

Bellator 261 took place Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card aired on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.

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Scott Coker: Fedor Emelianenko will fight soon – and Junior Dos Santos or Alistair Overeem could be next

Fedor Emelianenko has resumed training after a 2020 bout with COVID-19 and Scott Coker is seeing what free agents are available.

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UNCASVILLE, Conn. – [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] is gearing up for a return to the cage after a battle outside of it, according to Bellator president Scott Coker.

Emelianenko (39-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA), who has not competed since December 2019, contracted COVID-19 in 2020. The virus landed him in the hospital for a short period of time before he was released.

Coker told MMA Junkie on Thursday that he plans on meeting with Emelianenko during Bellator 256 fight week next week to discuss the specifics, but he’s been told the Russian legend is already back in the gym and preparing for a comeback.

“He’s doing much better and he’s ready to start training and getting ready,” Coker told MMA Junkie. “He will fight here in the next several months, I think. I’m going to talk to him when he gets here next week. He’s coming with (Vadim) Nemkov. I’ll have a chance to sit down and talk to him. I’ll make sure we’re on the same page as far as the timing of it all. I’m thinking late summer or early fall, you’ll see Fedor in the cage again.”

With a couple of high-profile heavyweight free agents on the market, Coker sees possibilities for Emelianenko’s next opponent. Former UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Junior Dos Santos[/autotag] and former perennial UFC heavyweight contender [autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag] both are on the market.

Coker confirmed Bellator has been in talks with both. While the promotion isn’t necessarily interested in locking the 37-year-old Dos Santos (21-9) or the 40-year-old Overeem (47-19) up for multiyear deals, Coker said one-fight deals could be an option if the other parties involved are interested.

“We’re not going to sign these guys to, like, a two-year, six-fight deal or build them up,” Coker said. “They’ve done everything. They’ve already proved themselves. They are legends of the sport already. But what I will say is we do have legends of the sport here. If we go down the road, and we think a Fedor opponent will work, Alistair and Fedor will be very interesting to me. Junior Dos Santos and Fedor will be very interesting to me.”

As Coker pointed out, Emelianenko and Overeem have history, too. Both participated in the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix in 2011 and could’ve fought one another. But Emelianenko was eliminated by Fabricio Werdum and Alistair Overeem withdrew from the tournament due to contractual issues.

“We put them on opposite sides of the bracket and Fedor lost,” Coker said. “It just didn’t get to the end. Having that fight now might be interesting. We’re still a long ways away from making that happen. But (with) superfights, if they’re open to it, what I told them both is, ‘Look, if you can get a contract somewhere else that is exclusive, then great. If you can’t and you want to fight superfights, the door is always open and we’ll have conversations.'”

Dos Santos is coming off four consecutive knockout losses. Overeem went 2-1 prior to his UFC release. Emelianenko has won three of four, a stretch that includes victories over Quinton Jackson, Chael Sonnen and Frank Mir.

The promotion makes its Showtime debut Friday with Bellator 255 at Mohegan Sun Arena. The entire card also will stream on MMA Junkie.

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Junior Dos Santos appeals loss to Ciryl Gane, cites ‘misinterpretation’ of illegal strikes rule

Junior Dos Santos’ team states that the appeal to overturn the result to a no contest is about setting the right precedent for MMA.

[autotag]Junior Dos Santos[/autotag] is looking to take action on what he believes to be the illegal strikes that led to his latest defeat.

Dos Santos, the former UFC heavyweight champion, re-filed an appeal with the Nevada Athletic Commission to overturn his UFC 256 TKO loss to Ciryl Gane in December to a no contest. The appeal originally was filed Jan. 15, but the commission stated that it did not sufficiently describe what Dos Santos’ team believes was a misinterpretation of the rules by the referee, thus denying a hearing on the matter in the first filing.

In a revised letter obtained by MMA junkie, Dos Santos’ team went more in depth in what its trying to achieve with the appeal, stating it was an issue with the referee misinterpreting Rule 7, which prohibits blows to the back of the head.

“We have not and do not allege that the referee did not see the foul; rather, he saw the blow to the back of Junior’s head, but as a result of his misinterpretation of the rule, he wrongly failed to call it a foul, and he wrongly awarded a victory to the offending contestant, Cyril Gane.”

Dos Santos’ team provided a series of photos that showed the fight-ending combination, plus another post-fight series that showed bruising on the back of his head.

Dos Santos’ team argues that the photos show the shots landed in the illegal zone and claim the referee acknowledged and agreed with the assessment, but he didn’t call the bout a no contest due to other points of contact.

“The referee added his own exception to the rule: He explained, both in the octagon and again in the locker room post-fight, that because Gane’s forearm touched Junior’s ear, the elbow aimed directly at Junior’s brain stem area was somehow rendered legal,” Dos Santos’ team stated. “That was the basis of the referee’s determination that a foul had not occurred, and that is a complete misinterpretation of the rule, whose plain language provides no such exception.”

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The loss to Gane was the last fight of Dos Santos’ storied UFC career as he was released from the promotion earlier this month. It was the fourth conescutive defeat for the 37-year-old, all by TKO.

Dos Santos (21-9 MMA) and his team don’t expect the appeal to change his standing with the UFC but instead hope it sets a precedent for the sport.

“We seek this Commission’s intervention today because it is the right thing to do. We acknowledge, wistfully, that Junior is closer to the twilight of his fight career than the dawn,” Dos Santos’ team explained. “Indeed, since this appeal was originally filed, we have learned that we will not see Junior in the UFC octagon again. That makes this appeal far less about the consequence to Junior’s own record, and far more about his personal commitment to the legacy of mixed martial arts – a sport he has worked to positively promote for over a decade, a sport he credits with changing his life. Changing the decision of Junior Dos Santos x Cyril Gane to a ‘no contest’ or ‘no decision’ is the right result.”

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Champ Ryan Bader hopes Alistair Overeem, Junior Dos Santos join Bellator heavyweight division

Ryan Bader wouldn’t be mad if Bellator added heavyweight legends Alistair Overeem and Junior Dos Santos to its heavyweight roster.

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[autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] wouldn’t be mad if Bellator added heavyweight legends [autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag] and [autotag]Junior Dos Santos[/autotag] to its heavyweight roster. However, he’s unsure if they’ll be deemed a good fit.

The UFC parted with two longtime divisional mainstays earlier this month when former champion Dos Santos (21-9) and onetime title challenger Overeem (47-19) were released from their respective contracts.

Both men have yet to publicly give details about their plans for the future, but if they continue competing, Bellator would seemingly be a potential destination.

However, Bader (27-6 MMA, 5-1 BMMA), the reigning Bellator heavyweight champion, doesn’t know if company president Scott Coker will be interested in bringing 37-year-old Dos Santos and 40-year-old Overeem and into the fold.

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“Look at what Bellator has done with (building) light heavyweight,” Bader told MMA Junkie on Monday. “It all depends, because Bellator’s model, they’re kind of changing a little bit. They’re bringing up their own guys, younger guys and all that. Yeah, I would like those guys to come over. I don’t know if they’e going to get those older guys now. We’ll see.”

Bader is currently focused on fighting at light heavyweight to work toward regaining champ-champ status. The first step comes at Bellator 256 on April 9, whee he’ll rematch Lyoto Machida in the opening round of the 205-pound grand prix.

Whether he wins the tournament or gets eliminator in the opening round, Bader said he will return to heavyweight to defend his title – and he wouldn’t mind seeing a couple of MMA legends up there waiting for him.

“I don’t know if Overeem is retired now,” Bader said. “But Dos Santos definitely seems like he wants to keep fighting and all that, so he’d be a good addition.”

To hear the full interview with Bader, check out the video below.

https://youtu.be/0i-QbHektUg

UFC parts ways with former champion Junior Dos Santos, perennial contender Alistair Overeem

Two staples of the UFC’s heavyweight division are no longer on the roster.

Two staples of the UFC’s heavyweight division are no longer on the roster.

Former UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Junior Dos Santos[/autotag] and perennial contender [autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag] have parted ways with the promotion.

A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the two heavyweights’ promotional departures following their removal from the UFC rankings Wednesday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has not officially announced the moves.

UFC officials did not reply to request for comment by MMA Junkie.

Dos Santos (21-9 MMA, 15-8 UFC) made his promotional debut at UFC 90 in October 2008. He made a statement immediately when he put away Fabricio Werdum with strikes in 80 seconds. The victory kicked off a nine-fight winning streak by “Cigano.”

Included on that run were two title fights: a clinching performance and a title defense. In November 2011, at UFC on FOX 1, Dos Santos finished Cain Velasquez with punches in 64 seconds to become the UFC heavyweight champion. He would follow up that performance with a second-round TKO win over Frank Mir at UFC 146 in May 2012.

Dos Santos lost the belt to Velasquez via unanimous decision in a December 2012 rematch at UFC 155. Following a win over Mark Hunt in May 2013, Dos Santos got his trilogy opportunity but was defeated by Velasquez via TKO at UFC 166 in October 2013.

Over the next seven-plus years, Dos Santos remained a heavyweight contender. From 2018-2019, Dos Santos even established a three-fight winning streak with victories over Blagoi Ivanov, Tai Tuivasa, and Derrick Lewis.

Dos Santos followed up the streak with a four-fight losing skid. Prior to his UFC departure, Dos Santos was finished by strikes in four straight fights – losses to Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and Ciryl Gane.

Overeem (47-19 MMA, 13-8 UFC) entered the UFC already an established MMA star who competed in numerous notable promotions including Strikeforce, PRIDE, and DREAM.

In December 2011, Overeem made his promotional debut at UFC 141 and finished Brock Lesnar with a body kick and punches. Over his next four fights, Overeem went 1-3 with TKO losses to Antonio Silva, Travis Browne, and Ben Rothwell.

Overeem turned around his bad luck, however, and rattled off a four-fight winning streak with victories over Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson, Junior Dos Santos, and Andrei Arlovski.

Over the span of his next 11 bouts leading to UFC exit, Overeem would have his ups and downs. Prior to his departure, Overeem won back-to-back fights against Walt Harris and Augusto Sakai before he was finished with punches by Alexander Volkov at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb. 6.