Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos started fighting in 2006, and entered the UFC in 2008. Career wins include division (interim) champions Fabrício Werdum, Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez, Frank Mir, and Stipe Miocic. However, the man who never had back-to-back losses has now lost to Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, all via TKO, all in row.
In a recent interview with E. Spencer Kyte for UFC.com, JDS expressed his frustration.
It’s been terrible, actually; it’s been terrible, said Dos Santos. The worst part is that I was feeling good for all those fights. I think I was doing very well in my fights, but like everybody says, in the heavyweight division, all it takes is one punch and everything is done. I’m living that right now. In my last three fights, they connected with a big punch and I lost the fights. It’s a terrible position to be in and I want to leave this in the past and move forward, back into the winning track.
I’m a smart guy and I love to be who I am and do what I do, but when I feel like it is not my time anymore, of course I will think of retiring or stepping away. But the way I train, the way things are going — I train very hard, I spar very hard, I do my circuits. It’s hard to find a heavyweight who trains as hard as I do. Everything is right there, but the results are not coming, so I have to keep going, make little changes, and make the results go in my favor.
I’ve been on top of this division. In my debut, I fought with a guy that would win the title. Since then, I’ve been fighting tough guys and it’s good motivation for me. I don’t pick my opponents and if the UFC wants to put me against these guys, it means I can give them a good show. I don’t try to think on the negative side of it or try to get an easier fight; it’s not my style. Besides, there are no easy fights — this is the UFC; the best heavyweights in the world are here.
Cigano fights Ciryl Gane on the main card of Saturday’s UFC 256. Bon Gamin is 6-0, 30 years old, and coming off three wins in the UFC. He arm triangled Raphael Pessoa, heel hooked Don’Tale Mayes, and decisioned Tanner Boser, all in four months. After dealing with health issues and multiple fight cancellations, Gane seeks to reach the next level with a win over a huge name.
That’s the type of fight that I like — when there is a lot of attention, especially like this, against an undefeated guy who is coming off good wins, said Dos Santos. For me, I feel like it’s a great opportunity to turn things around and make things happen in a good way.
In these last fights, I’ve been thinking a lot about strategy — you have to do this, do that — and sometimes I think I’m putting too much attention on the strategy and I forget that this is a fight. You have to have a strategy, but you also have to have a warrior’s heart.
You have to throw hands with that guy, try to kill him. Not in a bad way, he said laughing, but you have to have that warrior mentality, and I think I’ve been missing a little of that.
[Getting this win] means everything; it means a lot to me. It means I will be compensated for the hard work that I put in at the gym and everything I sacrifice with my family. To get this victory is very, very important. I know things will not be easy, especially against this guy — he’s an up and coming heavyweight, very dangerous — but he’s the perfect guy for me to finish and open everybody’s eyes and shut the mouths of all the haters out there.
