Away from the Octagon since April, former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos doesn’t feel like waiting any longer. Eager to get another title shot, he spoke to Combate about the next steps of his career.
In addition to claiming that Alistair Overeem straight out refused to rematch him, dos Santos believes there’s no way he would lose that rematch.
“We already got in touch with the UFC,” dos Santos said. “We have been talking. Actually, we are looking for an opponent that means something to me. Some have fights booked, others are injured. Overeem refused it, he really didn’t want to fight me. That’s what the UFC told us. Honestly, I already expected that. It was hard for our first fight to happen and when it did, he was fortunate to connect one strike and the ref stopped the fight. I believe it’s going to be hard for him to accept another fight against me. He knows I would win.”
Being the last man to ever defeat Stipe Miocic in the Octagon, dos Santos believes he has already done enough to warrant himself a new title shot.
“The fight that makes the most sense now is a Miocic rematch,” dos Santos said. “I was the last one to beat him, so nothing’s fairer than that. Besides, I defeated a guy who was very qualified in my last outing, Ben Rothwell. Everyone was saying he could get a title shot if he got past me. I fit perfectly in a title shot right now. It makes total sense. Velasquez could get a shot, sure, but he’s scheduled to fight Werdum, so it won’t happen now. My fight against Miocic was really tough. I think everyone would like to see it again.”
Junior dos Santos has been away from the Octagon, having undergone shoulder surgery, since his unanimous decision win over Ben Rothwell, in April. Before that, he suffered a second-round TKO loss to Alistair Overeem in December 2015.
