Junior dos Santos Wants to Fight Again Soon, Coaches Feel Otherwise

Junior dos Santos has dropped back-to-back fights for the first time in his career, and in addition, both of the losses were due to TKO stoppages. Well, apparently the coaches at American Top Team have advised dos Santos take a break from fighting. But, recently the former heavyweight champ outlined why he disagrees.

“Cigano” wants to fight again soon, following loss to Curtis Blaydes

Dos Santos took on powerful wrestler Curtis Blaydes last month at UFC Raleigh, and early on, things were looking pretty good for “Cigano”. JDS squashed a few takedown attempts from Blaydes, which many believed was key for the latter to win.

In round two, however, Blaydes roched dos Santos with a big right and finished the fight with a follow-up flurry. The loss was “Cigano’s” second straight, as he was fighting for the first time since last June, when Francis Ngannou quickly finished him.

Well, since the defeat, JDS spoke with MMA Fighting, and he had this to say about his wish to have a quick, turn-around fight.

“They wanted me to take a break and rest, but the problem is, I won’t rest,” said dos Santos. “I will only rest when I get things right again and fix my mistakes. To me, the best option is to get another fight right away. I wanted to fight soon after my injury because that’s the best medicine to me. My life is good when I’m active, when I have a goal.”

“I haven’t fought in Brazil since I entered the UFC, so that would be great for my career, to fight for my people,” added dos Santos. “I can get ready for a fight in May, no problem. That sounds good to me. In case they offer me something for that card, I can fight in Brazil in May.”

It’s not too surprising to hear that JDS wants to get back on the horse and quickly. Although 36 isn’t that old for heavyweight, JDS reportedly, recently signed an eight fight deal with the UFC. So, at this stage of his career he probably doesn’t want to sit out, for say, eight months.

But, you could also argue that his coaches might know best, and that they wouldn’t advise him to take some time off, unless they were truly concerned. Although “Cigano” hasn’t incurred as many stoppage losses as some veteran fighters, he has taken five now, and three of those have come in the last three years.

The former champ’s thoughts on the loss

While reflecting on the loss, and what went wrong, here’s some of what JDS had to say:

“I was physically well, feeling strong despite the difficulties we had, but man, I couldn’t find my timing,” dos Santos said. “I was prepared to defend the takedown attempts, and that’s all I did in the fight. That’s what I felt. I entered the fight to defend the takedowns and forgot to attack. I ended up giving him too much space to attack and paid a big price…”

With the defeat, the Brazilian star’s record now stands at 21-7.