Junior dos Santos is eager to add more gold to his collection.
Dos Santos is set to headline Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA on March 2 against Alan Belcher for the inaugural heavyweight title. However, the Brazilian is surprised to be facing Belcher as he didn’t think the former BKFC champ won his last fight.
“Right now, he lost that fight, he won the first round, but he lost the other rounds. That is what I saw and that is what many saw. But, that doesn’t matter,” dos Santos said to MiddleEasy. “I have him as an opponent for my next fight and that is what matters to me. I know he has good experience with the bare-knuckle thing, he’s an aggressive fighter, and that makes things even sweeter. That is the type of challenger I want because I’m really enjoying myself right now.”
To earn the title fight, Junior dos Santos scored a decision win over Fabricio Werdum back in September. The victory snapped his five-fight losing skid, which the Brazilian says was due to his mental state.
Dos Santos claims he was fighting demons in the final fights of his UFC tenure, but he now feels confident going into his matchup with Belcher.
“I was struggling to myself. I never told anybody, just close people. But, in my last fight in the UFC, before I fought Gane, he was laughing with his team and having fun. I was breathing heavy and thinking I gotta do this and that. My mind, my anxiety was killing me. Man, the guy with experience looks to be him, not me,” dos Santos said.
“That was something I slapped in my face, it was too late already, but hey, wake up man. You are Junior dos Santos, you have lots of experience, and you need to be smart. After all this time off, having a better time to make things more clear to my mind and what kind of path I need to follow. I feel much more confident and I’m coming into this fight against Alan Belcher to show this one more time,” dos Santos continued.
Junior dos Santos expects to submit Alan Belcher
With Junior dos Santos feeling much more confident in himself, the Brazilian doesn’t think he will just beat Alan Belcher. Instead, he believes he will submit Belcher to become the inaugural Gamebred bareknuckle MMA champion.
“There is no other heavyweight that can be faster than me. I move well and I throw some hard punches. I’m ready for everything, it’s MMA as well. I will say the same something, as soon as Alan Belcher starts to feel these hands connecting against his face, it will change his strategy right away, he will try and take me down to avoid these punches. That will be his biggest mistake because then I will submit him,” dos Santos concluded.
Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA returns on March 2 with Junior dos Santos taking on Alan Belcher for the inaugural heavyweight title in the main event.
