Junior dos Santos feels he can capture Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) gold a second time.
“Cigano” will have an opportunity to do just that when he meets reigning champion Stipe Miocic. The two will battle for the heavyweight title on May 13 inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The bout is expected to headline UFC 211.
In their first encounter, dos Santos defeated Miocic by unanimous decision back in Dec. 2014. There were fans and analysts who believed Miocic should’ve been awarded the victory. Since that time, Miocic has beaten Fabricio Werdum to capture the gold and had a successful title defense against Alistair Overeem.
MMA Latest News recently sat down with dos Santos. The former heavyweight ruler predicted a second-round finish of Miocic:
“I’m very confident right now. I respect Stipe Miocic a lot, he’s a good champion, a good guy, the kind of people we need now. It’s far from the fight now. We’re not like friends as you said, but we get along with each other, you know? I really respect him because of who he is, the champion he is. That’s a real important thing. … I will finish him in the second round. Before the end of the second round, I will finish him this time. And new, UFC heavyweight champion of the world, Junior ‘Cigano’ dos Santos!”
