Junior dos Santos hasn’t fought since an unsuccessful bid to retake the UFC heavyweight title from Cain Velasquez back in October of last year due to injuries, but the former champion is now hoping to return before the end of the year and he has a potential opponent in mind.
Dos Santos was scheduled to fight Stipe Miocic back in May in Brazil before pulling out of the fight due to a broken hand, and it’s a bout that still interests ‘Cigano’.
“Miocic is doing a good job, coming off great wins,” dos Santos told MMAfighting.com in a new interview. “I was focused on fighting him before, trained for him, so I think it would be a good fight for me. It would be a beautiful fight for the fans as well.”
Miocic certainly has been impressive of late with three victories in a row at this moment, and just one loss on his 13 fight MMA record which leaves him placed at No.5 on the official UFC heavyweight rankings at this moment in time, three places below dos Santos.
Other higher profile fighters like Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett have also been seeking to fight dos Santos recently, but the 30 year-old when discussing them, and “The Reem” in particular.
“They are challenging me to promote themselves,” dos Santos lets TATAME. “I had two dates to fight Overeem. First, he was caught in a drug test and then got hurt. I think that he’s saying this to give an answer to his fans. There is no sense of him talking about this now, he also has an opponent to face.”
As for when his return might be, dos Santos says he’s currently nursing a knee injury, but he is hopeful that he’ll be back in the Octagon by November, a little over a year since his last fight.
