According to TMZ former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Junior dos Santos has signed a deal with Triad Combat to fight next year and his opponent will be Kubrat Pulev.
A longtime UFC veteran Dos Santos has a 21 – 9 professional record with 15 of his wins coming by the way of knockout. He punched into submission such notable names as Fabricio Werdum, Mirko Cro Cop, Roy Nelson, Cain Velasquez, Frank Mir, Mark Hunt, Tai Tuivasa, and Derrick Lewis. That last fight was his last victory in his career, as for the next four bouts he found himself at the receiving end of his opponent’s punches leading to his release from UFC in past March.
After his release, Santos made a short-time transition to professional wrestling as a part of the American Top Team contingent invading AEW. He took part in multi-man tag team matches on Rampage and Full Gear 2021 PPV and was praised for his performance in the ring.
Now Santos will enter the triangle ring to test himself in the unique mix of boxing and stand-up aspect of MMA. His opponent, Pulev is no stranger to this environment as he fought and beat the aforementioned Mir at the first Triad Combat event on November 27th. The Bulgarian has a 28 – 2 professional boxing record with 14 wins coming by the way of knockout. His only losses come from the elite-level boxers, Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua. And as for his Triad Combat debut bout, he needed 1 minute and 59 seconds to dispose of Mir.
The fight is planned to take place in late February of 2022 with an event also featuring a clash between Vitor Belfort and Chad Dawson. Like at the first event the whole idea is based on Boxers fighting against MMA fighters with Shannon Briggs and Quinton Jackson returning as respected camps’ captains.
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