Former UFC Heavyweight champions Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum will compete for a third time at the upcoming Kings Championship event Aug. 8 in Florianopolis, Brazil per a report from MMA Fighting. Fortunately for fans of the 42- and 48-year-old veterans, their trilogy bout will be contested as a grappling match, not a full MMA fight.
“JDS” and Werdum first squared off in 2008, when an unknown dos Santos knocked out the far more established Werdum in just 80 seconds. 15 years later, the duo would compete a second time for Jorge Masvidal’s promotion Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA. In a bloody affair, dos Santos moved to 2-0 opposite his long time rival, winning via split-decision (highlights here).
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The odds are stacked against “Cigano” here, however, as Werdum is an incredibly decorated jiu-jitsu black belt.
Between the two, dos Santos has been more active since their 2023 rematch. He’s fought twice since then, defeating Alan Belcher in another Gamebred matchup before getting smoked by Robelis Despaigne just a couple weeks ago at the MVP MMA event. Werdum, conversely, hasn’t fought since then, signing with GFL in 2024 before the company’s spectacular implosion less than a year later. Likely, Werdum will never fight again because of inoperable brain lesions.
Hopefully, there aren’t any accidental head clashes in this grappling match.
