Fast rising UFC heavyweight Junior dos Santos has recently revealed that he expects to face none other than Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic on September 19.
If dos Santos has his dates correct, that would place the bout at UFC 103.
The Brazilian knockout artist made the revelation during a recent interview with the Brazilian website Portal das Lutas.
He had previously announced that he would be facing Justin McCully at UFC 102 but dos Santos explained that the bout was recently scratched.
“I think I’ll fight September 19,” said the Black House fighter. “They took me off the August 29 show. My opponent’s changed. I’ll probably face Cro Cop. If I beat him I’ll be in really good standing. If that’s truly the case, I’m guaranteed on the main card and in the main event of the evening. If I were to fight now it wouldn’t be on the main card.”
It appears as though the private meeting between Cro Cop and Lorenzo Fertitta must have gone well in Croatia.
Filipovic was previously reported to be departing the UFC in favor of the Japanese DREAM promotion, but the recent news from dos Santos makes it appear as if we will be seeing the return of Cro Cop to the octagon sooner rather than later.
Cro Cop made his initial return to the UFC a successful one at UFC 99 as he stopped Mustapha al Turk by TKO in the first round, while dos Santos is 2-0 in the UFC with first round TKO’s over the likes of Fabricio Werdum and Stefan Struve to his credit.
If dos Santos has his dates correct, that would place the bout at UFC 103.
The Brazilian knockout artist made the revelation during a recent interview with the Brazilian website Portal das Lutas.
He had previously announced that he would be facing Justin McCully at UFC 102 but dos Santos explained that the bout was recently scratched.
“I think I’ll fight September 19,” said the Black House fighter. “They took me off the August 29 show. My opponent’s changed. I’ll probably face Cro Cop. If I beat him I’ll be in really good standing. If that’s truly the case, I’m guaranteed on the main card and in the main event of the evening. If I were to fight now it wouldn’t be on the main card.”
It appears as though the private meeting between Cro Cop and Lorenzo Fertitta must have gone well in Croatia.
Filipovic was previously reported to be departing the UFC in favor of the Japanese DREAM promotion, but the recent news from dos Santos makes it appear as if we will be seeing the return of Cro Cop to the octagon sooner rather than later.
Cro Cop made his initial return to the UFC a successful one at UFC 99 as he stopped Mustapha al Turk by TKO in the first round, while dos Santos is 2-0 in the UFC with first round TKO’s over the likes of Fabricio Werdum and Stefan Struve to his credit.