Junior dos Santos certainly wouldn’t be opposed to a third bout with Stipe Miocic.
Last night (July 14), dos Santos traded leather with Blagoy Ivanov. In the end, dos Santos’ footwork and gas tank were superior and it helped lead him to a unanimous decision victory. It was a clean sweep for the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title holder with scores of 50-45 across the board. The bout headlined UFC Boise.
“Cigano” is well aware of the shift at the top of the heavyweight division. Daniel Cormier became a two-division champion when he knocked out Stipe Miocic. With Miocic now without a title for the first time since May 2016, it could open the door for dos Santos to get a chance to settle the score.
In their first encounter back in Dec. 2014, dos Santos earned a unanimous decision victory. Miocic got his revenge in the rematch back in May 2017. Miocic earned a first-round TKO victory to retain the heavyweight title.
Speaking to Laura Sanko during the FOX Sports 1 UFC Boise post-fight show, dos Santos said he’d be willing to fight Miocic one more time (via MMAFighting.com):
“I’m not sure, but a rematch with Miocic would be very welcome. The heavyweight division, there is many, many interesting things happening. Let’s sit down with my team and soon we will know.”
It didn’t take long for the next heavyweight title bout to be revealed. Daniel Cormier will defend his heavyweight title against Brock Lesnar. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) revealed that Lesnar reentered the testing pool and will be eligible to compete in Jan. 2019.
With Cormier vs. Lesnar on the horizon, it’ll be interesting to see which match-ups are made. Curtis Blaydes and Alexander Volkov, two potential title contenders are left without opponents. If they don’t end up facing each other, then perhaps dos Santos can serve as opposition.
Who would you match Junior dos Santos up against next?
