The bantamweight scrap between Miles Johns vs. Anderson dos Santos is back on — and upgraded, in fact, to a bigger card in UFC 265.
Johns vs. dos Santos was expected to be part of UFC Vegas 31 this past weekend. However thanks to a positive COVID-19 test in the dos Santos camp (as first revealed by Johns), the bout was pulled from the card. The last minute cancellation was no doubt a downer for all involved, but there is a silver lining in that the fight is now part of an even bigger event on August 7.
Johns broke the new date on social media early Tuesday.
“Never been more grateful for the chance to fight. Same opponent, same mission, new fire. Let’s go!” he wrote along with the fight announcement.
Johns (11-1), 27-years old, is 2-1 inside the octagon thus far, having won his way into the UFC as part of Dana White’s Contender Series back in 2019. Wins over Cole Smith and Kevin Natividad sandwich a lone loss to Mario Bautista — the only loss of Johns’ professional career.
Prior to entering the UFC, Miles Johns was a regular for Legacy Fighting Alliance, competing in the LFA cage four times and claiming their bantamweight championship against current fellow UFC fighter Adrian Yanez.
Anderson dos Santos, 35, lost his first two fights in the big show, before claiming his first octagon win against Martin Day last November. dos Santos boasts a 21-8 record, and previously fought for Titan FC and KOTC after spending the bulk of his career in Brazil.
UFC 265 takes place Saturday, August 7, 2021, in Houston, TX and features Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane battling for an interim heavyweight title in the main event.
The card currently breaks down as follows:
Derrick Lewis vs. Ciryl Gane – for the UFC interim heavyweight championship
Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Julianna Peña
José Aldo vs. Pedro Munhoz
Michael Chiesa vs. Vicente Luque
Tecia Torres vs. Angela Hill
Song Yadong vs. Casey Kenney
Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Jessica Penne
Ed Herman vs. Alonzo Menifield
Manel Kape vs. Ode Osbourne
Victoria Leonardo vs. Melissa Gatto
Vince Morales vs. Drako Rodriguez
Johnny Muñoz Jr. vs. Jamey Simmons
Bobby Green vs. Rafael Fiziev
Miles Johns vs. Anderson dos Santos
