Calling all Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweights, Junior dos Santos is looking for a fight on Feb. 19. Last week, Stefan Struve went down with a shoulder injury. It was later revealed he had tore his labrum. As a result, he was pulled from his scheduled bout with dos Santos at next month’s UFC Fight Night event in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
MMAJunkie.com reached out to “Cigano” to get an update on his status for the event. The former UFC heavyweight champion is still preparing for a fight next month:
“We don’t really know the situation. What the UFC told us is that they’re looking for an opponent, especially because we were the main event in Halifax. So I’m still training and awaiting news.”
The last time dos Santos stepped inside the Octagon was in April 2016. Many were counting him out after his first round knockout loss to Alistair Overeem. “Cigano” proved those skeptics wrong by beating Ben Rothwell from pillar to post for five rounds. Now, Dos Santos is getting agitated with his poor luck finding competition.
“It’s very frustrating, to be honest. It’s tough, because you know how hard it was to find an opponent. I think many things were happening in the division, but we weren’t able to find an opponent. A few of them were injured, others serving suspensions, others with fights booked and others who wouldn’t take the fight – which for me is kind of absurd, but OK. Unfortunately, (Struve) got hurt. I can’t judge things without knowing, and I’ve been in his position before, so I can only wish him a good recovery so he can return as fast as possible. Who knows – maybe in the future we can fight.”
Still, dos Santos is optimistic about 2017.
“I’m absolutely certain that in 2017, I will be able to show even to those who don’t believe my words, I will be able to prove to everyone that what I’m saying is true. I will end this year as heavyweight champion, I have no doubt about that.”
