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Dos Santos, a former UFC heavyweight champ, was paired up with fellow UFC ex-pat Alan Belcher in the main event of the Florida-based card, which had the promotion’s inaugural heavyweight title on the line on Saturday night at the Kia Center.

If you knew your MMA history, you no doubt saw “Cigano” as the favorite coming in. Aside from Dos Santos’ championship pedigree, he defeated another fellow champ in Fabricio Werdum in his Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA debut last September.

Belcher, meanwhile, earned a controversial split decision over Roy “Big Country” Nelson less than two months later to land in the title fight.

Saturday’s Dos Santos vs. Belcher was competitive early, with Belcher starting fast and hitting the body while doing a bit of damage up top as well — a much easier accomplishment in bareknuckle MMA. Dos Santos, however, was more effective with his boxing, footwork, and had the more varied arsenal, at one point connecting with a spinning back kick to the midsection.

It was the second round where things took a turn. Dos Santos, despite his reputation as a boxer, opted to take things to the ground. Belcher, already hurt, took some serious damage from ground strikes, while having to contend with JDS hunting a straight arm-bar.

And when Belcher managed to scramble to his feet, Junior Dos Santos clipped him with a well-placed punch, sending the American sprawling. Moments later, the fight was over, and Dos Santos was being awarded his latest title belt by promotion namesake Jorge Masvidal.

“It sounds so sweet, man. So sweet. It’s a lot of work to be here,” Dos Santos said following the win, asked how being a champ again sounded. He went on to thank god, his wife, and his team, before dropping a hint about who he wants next: Roy Nelson.

“In my humble opinion, I should be fighting him tonight,” stated Dos Santos, suggesting the judges got it wrong in the Nelson-Belcher fight. While JDS wouldn’t go as far as demanding the fight next, it’s likely one of the best match-ups Gamebred could make at this point, a rematch of the pair’s UFC 117 meeting in 2010, which Dos Santos won via decision.

As for Belcher, he called for a rematch following his loss to Dos Santos, suggesting he hadn’t been at his best. That, however, might be a bit of a harder sell given the definitive loss. Also an option would be Chase Sherman, a former BKFC champ who flatlined Alex Nicholson in the evening’s co-main event.

Official Result: Junior Dos Santos def. Alan Belcher by TKO, Round 2, 4:39

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Junior Dos Santos and Alan Belcher headlined Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 7, with both men coming off wins in the upstart promotion. Dos Santos earned another win over Fabricio Werdum last September (the pair had originally met early in their respective UFC careers), while Belcher had picked up a controversial split decision win over Roy Nelson in November.

While the two former UFC athletes are the main attraction, there are many more familiar names on Saturday’s card. Those include former UFC fighters like Alex Nicholson, Chase Sherman (himself a former BKFC champ), TJ Brown, Karl Roberson, Josh Weems, Jesse Ronson, and Anthony Njokuani, among others. Plus, an appearance by longtime MMA character Charles “Felony” Bennett (perhaps better remembered by his old nickname Krazy Horse), whose last win in combat sports had come in 2016.

Where to Watch Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 7

Saturday’s Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA card takes place at the Kia Center in Miami, Florida, with the event streaming live on Kick.com. The action gets underway at 8PM ET. Full results can be found below.

Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 7 Results

Junior Dos Santos def. Alan Belcher by TKO, Round 2, 4:39 – for the inaugural Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA heavyweight championship
Chase Sherman def. Alex Nicholson by KO, Round 1, 3:57
Handesson Ferreira def. Karl Roberson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
TJ Brown def. Joshua Weems by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 2, 0:22
Jesse Ronson def. Anthony Njokuani by submission (kimura), Round 1, 4:26
Brandon Jenkins def. Tyler Hill by TKO, Round 3, 2:12
Anvar Boynazarov def. Marlon Gonzales by KO, Round 1, 0:13
Joe Penafiel def. Charles “Felony” Bennett by TKO, Round 3, 3:49

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Gamebred Bareknuckle is MMA sans gloves, which Dos Santos noted in a recent interview with Cageside Press means “the punch has much more power against you.”

“Cigano” made his debut for Jorge Masvidal’s upstart promotion last year, beating Fabricio Werdum in a rematch over a decade in the making.

On that experience, Dos Santos explained that “once the guy is getting hit with a few punches, he doesn’t want to get hit anymore because it’s painful and opens up cuts on your face and things like that. And also the guy who’s hitting the other one, he cannot put 100% power on the punches, because you can break your hand as well. The gloves are there to protect your hands, not the face of your opponent. So that was very interesting, it really is. It was a good experience, and I felt good about the fight.”

Dos Santos highlighted his reliance on footwork, which also served him well. “For me it worked very well in that fight. To tell you the truth, I felt like home. That’s the kind of challenge that really excites me, and that’s the kind of feeling I’m bringing to this fight now.”

The win against Werdum was the first in years for JDS, who exited the UFC on a four-fight skid that found him finished on four consecutive occasions. A bounce-back fight against Yorgan de Castro under the Eagle FC banner also went sideways when Dos Santos injured his shoulder in the fight.

With that in mind, the Werdum fight was key for Dos Santos, who admits to being “completely lost” following the long string of setbacks.

“I got all my faith renewed in my last fight. I was kind of finding myself again, because I was completely lost. That’s the truth. All the negative results I was having before, I was trying to be that good employee all the time. Trying to follow instructions and represent very well all the time, not say no to anything,” Dos Santos explained. “And that’s not the way things need to happen, especially at this time in my career. Actually in anyone’s career.”

“There’s some moments, you’ve got to understand that you need to say no for a few things, to take your time, to work better. Especially on your psychological. The psychological part of the game, for me, it’s the heaviest one. I was completely lost like I said, I was just pushing forward trying to fix things, and in truth I was accumulating things, the broken things. That was kind of a mistake.”

Junior Dos Santos eventually took time to himself, and rallied around those close to him. Seeing the situation as a message from the divine telling him to slow down, he added that his first Gamebred Bareknuckle bout “was the first fight in my whole career I fought only my opponent. I didn’t fight myself before[hand].”

Next up for Dos Santos is Alan Belcher, who picked up a controversial decision over Roy Nelson in his last outing. The inaugural Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA heavyweight title is on the line.

“He has pretty good boxing skills, he’s got a good jab and things like that. He’s a warrior, he goes for the fight, he doesn’t back up from a good fight. I think that’s the most important point about him,” Dos Santos said of his opponent this Saturday. “I know he’s going to be there hungry for this victory, he’s going to come out very strong against me. And that makes me even more excited for this fight, because I’m ready for that.”

“I can’t wait actually, to show all those new guys what I can do when I’m feeling the way I’m feeling right now,” added the former UFC champ. “It’s kind of a new start for me, I just discovered myself against as a fighter. It makes me feel very good and very excited, because I know I still have, even [at] 40 years old, I still have a lot to show.”

Watch our full interview with Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 7’s Junior Dos Santos above.

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Dos Santos and Belcher will throw down on March 2, 2024 at the Kia Center in Orlando, Florida. Jorge Masvidal, whose “Gamebred” brand has branched into MMA, boxing, and barenknuckle MMA, recently announced the news on social media.

No other fights have been revealed for the event.

Junior Dos Santos (22-10) won a split decision over Fabricio Werdum in a rematch between former UFC heavyweight champions this past September. That fight marked the first win by JDS since his 2019 TKO of Derrick Lewis.

For Belcher, the heavyweight title fight arrives in controversial fashion, after winning a split decision of his own over Roy “Big Country” Nelson. The fight came in Belcher’s backyard of Biloxi, Mississippi, where the 39-year old fights out of. Prior to trying his hand at bareknuckle MMA, Belcher had put together four straight wins under the BKFC banner in barekunckle boxing, winning that promotion’s heavyweight championship.

During his UFC stint, Alan Belcher competed considerably lower, as a middleweight. He exited the promotion in 2013 off back-to-back losses against Yushin Okami and Michael Bisping.

Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA’s March 2, 2024 event does not have a broadcast plan announced. Previous events from the promotion, which utilizes traditional MMA rules without gloves, were streamed via Youtube.

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Yes, the Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 5 main event was comprised of two former UFC champs well past their prime — but the pairing at least felt like a fair fight, and was far better than feeding one legend or the other to some young up-and-comer. Which quite frankly is the usual MMA playbook.

The winner of JDS vs. Werdum might even get a chance to go on one last run, with a fight against the winner of next month’s Roy Nelson vs. Alan Belcher, for the inaugural Gamebred Bareknuckle heavyweight title, waiting in the wings.

Fabricio Werdum fired off a few chopping front kicks early in Friday’s heavyweight main event — but he belied his gameplan by shooting in on a takedown more than once in the opening two minutes of the fight. None of those attempts came anywhere close to getting the fight where he wanted it, while Dos Santos played more of a waiting game, refusing to commit to anything more than a few probing jabs. JDS did mix in a calf kick, while Werdum continued to fire kicks up high, and to the body.

In the final minute of the opening frame, Werdum finally latched on to a leg and dumped Dos Santos on his backside. JDS, however, was quickly back to his feet, firing another leg kick and catching Werdum with a right hand before the end of the round. Werdum went down, though it appeared to be more of a slip.

Round two saw Dos Santos pressing forward, right hand cocked more often than not. Werdum then took over, firing numerous kicks including a spinning attack. Near the midway mark, Werdum dropped to his knees for a labored takedown attempt, and was forced to roll through it. Not great body language, especially with JDS still looking relatively fresh. Still, moments later, Werdum appeared to find a second wind, going on the offensive. Dos Santos, meanwhile, was patient almost to a fault, landing his calf kicks but refusing to unload on combinations.

Werdum would shoot for a takedown late in the round, but Dos Santos fought that off and wound up on top — wisely backing off rather than engaging with “Vai Cavalo” on the mat.

In the third, Dos Santos caught a kick early, but couldn’t take advantage of the moment. Instead, they went back to trading single strikes, with Dos Santos adding a twist by doubling up on his jab. The only flaw in that approach, actually landing it. But when it did land, Dos Santos appeared to do some damage, with Werdum showing blood and swelling around one eye. A takedown attempt saw Werdum try to lure JDS into his guard, to no avail. With time winding down, JDS would fire one final spinning attack before the horn, then raise his arms in celebration, believing he’d tone enough to secure the decision win.

Two of the three judges agreed, sending Junior Dos Santos back to the win column for the first time since 2019.

Official Result: Junior Dos Santos def. Fabricio Werdum by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)

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Involved in boxing, MMA, and bareknuckle MMA, it was the latter in the spotlight on Friday, September 8, 2023, with Junior Dos Santos vs. Fabricio Werdum headlining Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 5 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

Gamebred had brought a heavyweight rematch to top the show, with former UFC heavyweight champions Junior Dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum meeting for the second time. Their 2008 encounter had ended with a nasty JDS uppercut that set up the finish; 15 years later, Werdum was looking for revenge.

But, never a dull moment, right? Days out from the fight, Renan Barao, announced as co-headliner, revealed that he had never agreed to his bout with Sean Soriano, and the fight was scrapped. The show instead moved forward with Joel Bauman vs. Maki Pitolo as the penultimate fight of the evening.

Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 5 streams live and free on Youtube; full results can be found below.

Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 5: Dos Santos vs. Werdum Results

Junior Dos Santos def. Fabricio Werdum by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
Joel Bauman def. Maki Pitolo by TKO, Round 2, 2:36
Joshua Weems def. Irwin Rivera by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ago Huskic def. Brandon Davis by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Anthony Njokuani def. Brandon Jenkins by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Joey Ruquet def. Joe Penafiel by TKO (body punch), Round 2, 3:01
Jhonasky Sojo def. Tyler Hill by TKO, Round 1, 4:52
Reggie Northrup def. Cody Herbert by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Shahzaib Rindh def. Carlos Guerra by TKO, Round 1, 2:40
Juan Alvarez def. Christopher Wingate by submission (heel hook), Round 1, 0:13

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That was over a year ago now. And the end result of the fight was not what “Cigano” was looking for. Ahead on the scorecards, Dos Santos (21-10) tore his shoulder in the third round, resulting in an injury TKO loss and many, many months on the sidelines.

Since the May 2022 setback, the popular Brazilian fighter has been forced to endure not one but two surgeries to repair the injury, after the surgical screws used in the original operation came out of place.

“It took me some time, more than one year already to recover. It wasn’t easy, we did two surgeries actually,” Dos Santos told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview in conjunction with the upcoming Gamebred Bareknuckle 5 card, where he’ll face Fabricio Werdum. “We did the first one, and then something happened, the screws came out of place. I had to redo the surgery, and it wasn’t a small surgery, it was a big one.”

“It’s kind of, going through surgeries and things like that, it’s frustrating, it drains my energy and not in a good way,” Dos Santos admitted. “But it’s in the past already. Thank god I’m here, I’m healthy.”

Now preparing to fight an opponent in Werdum who he first met (and knocked out) in 2008, Dos Santos appears confident in the shoulder. “Finally I’m feeling strong again, training very hard, and the shoulder is responding to that. So I feel good to go in there and put 100% of me to win this.”

Gamebred Bareknuckle 5 is a bareknuckle MMA event, meaning it will have all the usual MMA rules, minus gloves. “The gloves are there to protect the hands, not the face of the guy! So now without the [gloves] we’ve got to be a little more cautious about it, little more careful,” said JDS, noting that broken hands could be a concern. “But I don’t think it’s going to be a problem for me. I feel good, and I think I can put on a good strategy to make the best of it for me.”

With so much time having passed since their first fight, Dos Santos wasn’t sure he’d ever face off with Fabricio Werdum again. Let alone 15 years later.

“We had some other opportunities to fight in the UFC. Actually the UFC offered me to fight him I think three times, I said yes to all of them but it didn’t happen. Now it’s happening, and it’s good, because Werdum, I became champion, he became champion later. We have a history, kind of a rivalry, things like that.”

“It makes me very excited to be here, to be fighting him again,” Dos Santos added. “These people, the fighting community, were talking about this rematch like you said through all these years. So it was something that was always there, and now finally the Gamebred show is putting it together. It for sure should come from somebody like Masivdal, who understands the scenario, understands the show. So let’s do it.”

Watch our full interview with Gamebred Bareknuckle 5’s Junior Dos Santos above. JDS faces Fabricio Werdum at the event on September 8, 2023 at the VySar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, FL.

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15 years on from their initial match-up in the UFC, Junior Dos Santos (21-10) and Fabricio Werdum (24-9-1, 1NC), both former heavyweight champions, will meet again in the main event of Gamebred Bareknuckle 5.

Promotion officials confirmed the match-up following an initial report by Sherdog.

Werdum had thrown his name in the hat for the Francis Ngannou sweepstakes, with the former UFC heavyweight champion and lineal champ signing on with the PFL earlier this year. “The Predator” isn’t expected to return to the cage until 2024, however, as he pursues a high-profile boxing match. Which gives Werdum times to get back in the win column, after his last fight ended in controversy.

Originally a TKO victory for opponent Renan Ferreira, a review of the footage from their 2023 PFL 3 fight revealed that Ferreira had tapped to a Werdum triangle choke, only for the submission to go unseen by the ref. The result was overturned to a No Contest.

Junior Dos Santos’ most recent fight was not without its own follies. Likely en route to a decision win, JDS suffered an injury in the third round of his Eagle FC fight with Yorgan De Castro last year, losing via TKO.

Gamebred Bareknuckle 5 takes place September 2, 2023 and features the traditional mixed martial arts ruleset — minus gloves.

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Paige VanZant Debuts at AEW’s Double or Nothing

While Alistair Overeem stepped into the ring Saturday, fellow former UFC star Paige VanZant beat him by just under a week.

After months of teasing, VanZant made her in-ring debut for AEW, the bonafide #2 wrestling promotion next to WWE. At the company’s Double or Nothing PPV last Sunday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, “PVZ” took part in a six-man mixed tagged match, featuring herself, Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page against Franke Kazarian, Sammy Guevara, and Tai Conti.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1531100426753527808

VanZant’s fundamentals looked stiff, and the build-up to the match went off the rails through no fault of her own (storyline-wise, fans had no one to cheer for, with everyone in the match save for Kazarian ending up in a “heel” role). Still, she acquitted herself well enough, and the crowd seemed to enjoy her. The fundamentals, like using the ring ropes, will come with time. Arguably, some of VanZant’s bigger moves looked better than her basics, which is not all that surprising at this juncture.

Triple C Backs Diaz in Dispute with UFC

Nate Diaz has been trying to get a fight all year, and appears no closer to getting one.

The younger Diaz brother was lined up for a fight with Dustin Poirier back in March, but contract negotiations apparently stalled that. Since then, talk about a match-up with Khamzat Chimaev resurfaced, then vanished just as quickly. In the interim, Diaz has been vocal on Twitter about his displeasure at being unable to land a fight — and even posted a photo of himself urinating on the UFC PI in a protest of sorts. Or maybe he just really had to go.

Regardless, the Diaz situation boils down to, the UFC wants to extend his deal. Diaz doesn’t. And given it’s the last fight on his deal, many believe the promotion want to feed him to a killer on the way up (see: Chimaev) if he’s not going to stick around. Or, sit him until a potential McGregor trilogy fight can happen. It’s all just speculation, but Diaz not fighting when he wants to fight is an odd sight to see, given how the UFC struggled to get him in the cage for years.

Diaz has a number of backers in this spat — including one Triple C, Henry Cejudo.

“Free Nate, man,” Cejudo said recently on his podcast, The Triple C & Schmo Show. “If you’re not gonna give him a fight, dude, free him. Let him be or he could run out his contract, you know? I think every fighter has a contract where they’re literally able if they don’t get a certain amount of fights per year. Like you could literally run it out, dude, so it’s a trip.”

JDS Due for Shoulder Surgery, Hoping for Early 2023 Return

Junior Dos Santos’ first post-UFC bout, against Yorgan De Castro under the Eagle FC banner last month, ended with an unfortunate shoulder injury. Dos Santos, who had looked good in the fight, dislocated his shoulder early in the third round — and it appears the damage is worse than anticipated.

“Cigano” addressed the setback on social media last week, posting a video on the subject with an accompanying message to fans. “As you guys watched it I dislocated my shoulder on the beginning of the last round of my last fight. So for me to keep fighting I gotta fix it. So let’s do it because I felt great on my last fight and I want much more,” wrote JDS.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CePovw5AWMq/

Speaking of Injuries… Ryan Hall

Ultimate Fighter 22 winner Ryan Hall has struggled to stay healthy in his years since winning the show. Having missed all of 2017 and all of 2020, Hall actually made it to the cage twice in 2021… but will miss all of 2022, having torn his ACL in training.

Hall, like JDS, announced the news on social media.

“Not sure who has my voodoo doll, but if they could stop stabbing it, I would really appreciate that…” Hall began his written statement.

“Had just agreed to a fight on August 13th, but a bit of bad luck in training resulted in a complete tear of my ACL. Started the year really hoping to fight a bunch in 2022, as well as compete at ADCC, but with the recovery being what it is, that won’t be in the cards.”

No word on who he was supposed to fight, but seriously, whoever has that voodoo doll, knock it off already.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CeRXl4muw76/

Paddy Pimblett Has Words for T.J. Dillashaw

Paddy Pimblett likes to eat — so when he’s not preparing for a fight, he pretty much turns into a happy fat kid. That has drawn criticism from fans (none of whom have ever had to make weight), and fellow fighters — including ex-bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw.

Dillashaw, who once sold a t-shirt poking fun at his own weight issues when out of camp, went on the incredibly poorly named “The Schaub Show” and proclaimed that “If you keep that same work ethic that he has now, he’ll never be a champion.” Dillashaw would go on to add that “You can’t have that down time like that. You can’t get that fat. You can’t get out of shape.”

There might be some fair criticism here— at least as Paddy gets older, those sort of weight swings will get more difficult, and take a harsher toll on the body. That said, should T.J. Dillashaw be criticizing anyone about anything?

Pimblett’s response is exactly what you’d expect from Paddy “the Baddy,” who is no doubt able to verbally eviscerate most of the active UFC roster, and do it in an accent that makes anything he says much cooler than it otherwise would be.

“Don’t forget [your] own past [you] sausage,” wrote Pimblett in response, calling Dillashaw a “cheating little juice head” who would “never have won a belt without them steroids.” He capped it off by calling Dillashaw a “f*cking mushroom.” Well, someone else had already labelled him a snake, so mushroom is at least a new one.

Dillashaw failed multiple drug tests for EPO in 2019, after losing a flyweight title fight against Henry Cejudo. He would then relinquish his bantamweight title before the UFC could strip him of the belt, and sat out a two-year suspension handed down by USADA, in one of the biggest busts since the organization was brought in to handle the UFC’s anti-doping policy.

https://twitter.com/theufcbaddy/status/1532041541618913282

So You Wanna Be a F’ing Fighter?

Bantamweight Blair “The Wild” West made his pro debut on Saturday at BTC 15 in Burlington, ON, Canada, only to have the fight stopped after the first round. Why? Well that’s pretty obvious. West was willing to continue, and was still all smiles after the fight, posing for the fans and media. Trooper.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CeZw9y_LPi1/

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