What’s Next For Junior dos Santos?

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Another weekend of fisticuffs has come and gone, as UFC Fight Night 166 blew the roof off PNC Arena last Saturday night (Jan. 25, 2020) in Raleigh, North Carolina. Plenty of fighters were left licking their wounds, including Rafael dos Anjos, who suffered his second straight loss after coming up short against Michael Chiesa.

And Lucie Pudilova, who suffered her fourth straight loss at the hands of Justine Kish. And lets not forget Nik Lentz, who suffered some nasty injuries to his eye in his loss to Arnold Allen (see the carnage here). But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now 48 hours removed from the show?

Junior dos Santos.

Coming into his headlining bout against Curtis Blaydes, Junior was eager to erase the stench of his loss to Francis Ngannou last summer (see it here).

With an impressive performance, “Cigano” would’ve likely made a case for a shot at the strap given the 265-pound division’s lack of title contenders at the top. Instead, the Brazilian bomber came up short against “Razor” after the big man ate some heavy shots from his younger counterpart, resulting in a second round technical knockout (TKO) defeat.

For Junior, the loss is a crucial one as a second straight loss via strikes sends his stock plummeting, which will see him lose a few spots in the rankings sometime this week. Normally, a fighter could find a way to get back in the mix, but Junior has been around the block a few times, and with guys like Blaydes and Rozenstruick coming up, determined to get their first shot at UFC gold, dos Santos simply can’t afford to lose.

That said, as tough as the defeat is for “JDS,” it’s not the end of the road for the ex-division champion. Since Heavyweights don’t have the luxury of moving up or down a division like other’s do in hopes of starting fresh, Junior will have to ride out the storm.

As for who he should fight next, perhaps a showdown against Alexander Volkov is in order. The two men were set to face off against one another a few months back before a staph infection forced Junior out. In his place, his teammate Greg Hardy stepped in and suffered a unanimous decision loss to “Drago.”

Sure, “Cigano” is coming off two defeats while Volkov recently got back in the win column, but “Drago’s” win over Hardy shouldn’t be reason enough to make him believe he can start turning down that kind of fight offer, especially when dos Santos is ranked two spots higher at the point in time.

And let’s face it, when you look at the top 10, no one else makes sense for either man at this point as Alexander likely won’t want to face someone ranked lower than him, while that’s the only option for Junior (No. 4) at this point. Unless you have a better idea in mind?

For complete UFC Raleigh results and coverage click here.