Junior dos Santos set to fight Fabricio Werdum in Jorge Masvidal’s Bare Knuckle MMA promotion

By Cole Shelton - June 21, 2023

Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum will fight again.

Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum

Dos Santos and Werdum fought back at UFC 90 in 2008 with ‘JDS’ winning by TKO in just 80 seconds. Since then, both went on to become UFC heavyweight champion for a period, but neither man is still fighting with the promotion.

Now, according to Sherdog, Junior dos Santos is set to take on Fabricio Werdum in Jorge Masvidal’s bare-knuckle MMA promotion on September 2. The news was confirmed by dos Santos’ coach, Conan Silveira. The location of the event and whether or not this scrap will serve as the main event is not known at this time.

“‘Cigano’ started his camp to face Werdum today,” Silveira said to Sherdog about dos Santos-Werdum. “I’m not sure if it was already officially announced but it will be at a Masvidal event under Vale Tudo rules, but with no gloves.”

Junior dos Santos (21-10) has lost five straight fights and is coming off a loss to Yorgan De Castro at Eagle FC 47 in a fight he dislocated his shoulder. Prior to that, he suffered four straight TKO losses to Ciryl Gane, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Curtis Blaydes, and Francis Ngannou and was released from the UFC following the loss to Gane.

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In his career, dos Santos holds notable wins over Stipe Miocic, Mark Hunt, Cain Velasquez, Roy Nelson, and Frank Mir among others. He won the UFC heavyweight title in 2011 and defended it on one occasion.

Fabricio Werdum (24-9-1 and one No Contest) is coming off a No Contest to Renan Ferreira in a fight he lost by TKO but was overturned to a NC after it was revealed Ferreira had tapped earlier in the contest due to a submission. The fight was his lone scrap in PFL after he submitted Alexander Gustafsson in his final UFC fight.

Werdum is the former UFC heavyweight champion who holds notable wins over Cain Velasquez, Roy Nelson, Fedor Emelinaneko, and Alistair Overeem among others.


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Fabricio Werdum Junior dos Santos UFC