Junior dos Santos

Junior dos Santos

Junior dos Santos Almeida (born 30 January 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and a former UFC Heavyweight Champion. He has victories over Fabrício Werdum, Frank Mir, Cain Velasquez, Shane Carwin, and Stipe Miocic. As of December 14, 2020, he is #10 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.

About Junior dos Santos in brief

Summary Junior dos SantosJunior dos Santos Almeida (born 30 January 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and a former UFC Heavyweight Champion. He has victories over Fabrício Werdum, Frank Mir, Cain Velasquez, Shane Carwin, and Stipe Miocic. As of December 14, 2020, he is #10 in the UFC heavyweight rankings. Dos Santos and his two siblings were raised by a single mother, Maria, after his alcoholic father Sebastian left the family in mid-1990s. He trained Capoeira throughout his teenage years before his first serious contact with martial arts happened at the age of 21, when he began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Yuri Carlton. He won six of his first seven bouts, suffering his only loss to Joaquim Ferreira, a fighter he had previously beaten. On 11 January 2011, it was revealed that dos Santos would be one of the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter Season 13, opposite Brock Lesnar. On 20 April 2012, Dana White announced that Frank Mir would be replacing Dos Santos, replacing Alair Overeem.

On April 4, 2012, the Nevada State Athletic Commission announced that Overe had failed a pre-fight drug test and would not be allowed to fight Dos Santos. On May 26, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena at Las Vegas, dos Santos defeated Alistair Oeverman by unanimous decision. He then went on to win the WEC Heavyweight Championship with a unanimous decision over Mark Munoz. On November 12, 2011, Dos Santos defeated CainVelasquez at UFC on Fox 1 for the UFC Heavywood Championship on 12 November 2011. The performance also earned him his third ‘Knockout of the Night’ award. After the fight it was announced that Dos Santos had a torn meniscus in his knee; he subsequently underwent a successful knee surgery. He was scheduled to face Al Overeen on 26 May 2012 at UFC 146 at MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. He lost the fight via unanimous decision and was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a knee injury. He is currently ranked as the #10 heavyweight in the world.