UFC on FOX 17's Junior Dos Santos: Fellow heavyweights see me as gatekeeper

After a 13-month stint as UFC heavyweight champion, Junior dos Santos is again pushing to win back the belt.

Twice denied by now-former champ Cain Velasquez, who in June lost his title to Fabricio Werdum, Dos Santos (17-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) meets Alistair Overeem (39-14 MMA, 4-3 UFC) on Saturday at UFC on FOX 17.

The bout serves as the event’s co-headliner on the FOX-televised main card at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. It’s Dos Santos’ first appearance since a damaging win over Stipe Miocic one year ago at UFC on FOX 13.

“He’s a good heavyweight fighter with dangerous striking,” Dos Santos said of Overeem to MMAjunkie. “He’s a great kickboxer with excellent knees and kicks. I’ve been training to avoid that, or use it to set up counters. His power has to be respected.

“And he also likes to make controversial statements, when promoting a fight and trying to stand out.”

Three years ago at UFC 146, the two were scheduled to fight when Dos Santos held the heavyweight title. But Overeem failed a pre-fight drug test, and Dos Santos went on to fight Frank Mir and win by knockout.

Alistair Overeem

In the buildup to that fight, Overeem accused Dos Santos of being scared to face him. Once friendly, the two became rivals. Dos Santos reportedly asked to face Overeem after his Mir win, but instead he went on to fight a rematch with Velasquez, who soundly beat him to regain the title.

Now, the stakes are different for both fighters with Werdum now holding the title after an upset of Velasquez in June at UFC 188. The two are set to rematch in February at UFC 196.

“I feel my fellow heavyweights see me as a gateway to the title,” Dos Santos said. “A lot of people are interested in fighting me. I think that’s very interesting. It’s great. Thankfully I’ve reached this position, and I’m working hard to remain at the top.”

Dos Santos doesn’t feel any differently about the matchup than he did three years ago, when the two were preparing to fight. To him, it’s the kind of bout that sparks fan interest and expedites title opportunities.

“I think it will be a great fight – striker vs. striker,” he said. “The fans have been waiting for a long time. We’ll both be looking to win by knockout, but anything can happen.

“Everything is in place for a great fight. People know that heavyweight fights are different. They know what to expect. Even the last row can hear the noise when we land a strike. There’s an emotional component that people enjoy.”

In Dos Santos’ past few bouts, he’s given the audience a lot to enjoy, though the price of that excitement has been a tremendous amount damage he’s taken during the fights. MMA observers have questioned the longterm wisdom of participating in slugfests, but the former champ said it’s his responsibility to avoid them.

“Evolution must be constant, especially from the moment you start having very good results,” he said. “As soon as I became the world champion, I also became a target. Other fighters start to study you and formulate strategies against you. I can’t be narrow-minded and only use my boxing, which is something I love to do. Unfortunately, or fortunately, this is MMA. I have to keep getting better.

“I’ve always trained everything – jiu-jitsu, wrestling, muay Thai. But I’ve never had enough confidence to put it all in practice during a fight. That’s the type of confidence I’m looking for. I always feel best when boxing. No matter how a fight plays out, I usually tend to go back to boxing. With Velasquez, he found a very efficient way to avoid my boxing and put his wrestling into play. He was successful in that regard.

“So it falls to me to not only improve my fighting skills, but also my mindset. I have to believe things are possible instead of putting up barriers. Sometimes, if we overthink a fight, or think too highly of an opponent’s technique, we may fail to demonstrate the skills we have. I’m looking to improve in that regard.”

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