Junior dos Santos (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʒuni.oʁ dus ˈsɐ̃tus]; born 30 January 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former professional wrestler who competes in the Heavyweight division. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and current Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA Heavyweight Champion. As a professional wrestler, dos Santos made appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a member of the American Top Team stable.
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Background
Dos Santos and his two siblings were raised by a single mother, Maria, after his alcoholic father, Sebastian, left the family in the mid-1990s. He started to work at the age of ten in order to help his family. He trained in capoeira throughout his teenage years before he began taking martial arts seriously at 21, when he began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Yuri Carlton. After six months of training, Dos Santos won a few jiu-jitsu tournaments in Salvador. One year later, Dos Santos was invited to join a boxing practice by a friend, where he met his boxing coach Luiz Carlos Dórea. Dórea also trained mixed martial arts, and roughly a year after he started training in boxing, he had his debut professional fight.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Dos Santos turned professional in 2006, at the age of 22. He fought in small promotions in Brazil, such as Demo Fight, Extreme Fighting Championship, Minotauro Fights and Mo Team League. He won six of his first seven bouts, suffering his only loss to Joaquim Ferreira, a fighter he had previously beaten.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (2008–2021)
Dos Santos debuted for the UFC on 25 October 2008 at UFC 90. Considered a major underdog, he knocked out top contender Fabricio Werdum at a minute and twenty seconds of the first round, earning himself a "Knockout of the Year" award.
Returning on 21 February 2009 at UFC 95 he fought promotional newcomer Stefan Struve, defeating him at fifty-four seconds of the first round by knockout.
On 19 September 2009, Dos Santos continued his winning streak and defeated Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 103. During the third round Dos Santos dominated Cro Cop in the clinch with knee strikes and punches. A knee from the clinch and a right uppercut apparently caused damage to Mirko's left eye, causing him to submit verbally.
UFC 108 scheduled a fight between Dos Santos and Gabriel Gonzaga. However, Gonzaga pulled out of the bout on 25 November 2009 due to a staph infection. Instead, on 2 January 2010, Dos Santos fought Gilbert Yvel, winning the fight via TKO at two minutes and seven seconds of the first round.
Dos Santos faced Gabriel Gonzaga on 21 March 2010 at UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones. He won the fight via knockout in the first round, earning him his second "Knockout of the Night" award.
Dos Santos faced Roy Nelson on 7 August 2010, at UFC 117. The fight saw Dos Santos use a variety of strikes and, for the first time, a successful takedown. Despite Dos Santos's striking ability, Nelson was able to stay in the fight, resulting in the fight going to decision. Dos Santos won the fight via unanimous decision. Following the win, there was speculation that Dos Santos would challenge Cain Velasquez for the heavyweight title. However, a torn rotator cuff suffered by Velasquez side-lined the champion for nearly a year.
On 11 January 2011, the president of the UFC, Dana White, announced that Dos Santos would be one of the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter Season 13, opposite Brock Lesnar. They were scheduled to face each other on 11 June 2011, at UFC 131, but Lesnar pulled out of the bout due to a recurrence of diverticulitis and was replaced by Shane Carwin. Dos Santos dominated Carwin and won the fight via unanimous decision, relying predominantly on his boxing skills, but showed more variety in his game by landing a couple of kicks and completing two takedowns in the third round.
Eagle Fighting Championship
Dos Santos made his Eagle FC debut against Yorgan De Castro on 20 May 2022 at Eagle FC 47. Dos Santos outstruck De Castro for most of the bout, but would go on to lose by technical knockout due to a doctor stoppage after suffering a shoulder injury early in the third round.
Gamebred FC
Dos Santos fought in a rematch against Fabrício Werdum in a bare knuckle MMA fight on 8 September 2023, at Gamebred Fighting Championship 5. He won the fight by split decision.
Dos Santos faced Alan Belcher for the Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA Heavyweight championship in the main event of Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 7 on 2 March 2024. Dos Santos won the championship by knockout in the second round.
Global Fight League
On 11 December 2024, it was announced that Dos Santos was signed by Global Fight League. However, all GFL events were postponed indefinitely.
Most Valuable Promotions
Dos Santos faced Robelis Despaigne on May 16, 2026 at MVP MMA 1. He lost the fight by knockout in the first round.
Professional wrestling career
All Elite Wrestling (2021)
In the summer of 2021, dos Santos began making appearances for the professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling, backing American Top Team head Dan Lambert along with ATT affiliated fighters Andrei Arlovski, Paige VanZant, Austin Vanderford, Dalton Rosta, and Jorge Masvidal. They formed an alliance with Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky, otherwise known as the Men of the Year (both of which have legitimate extensive martial arts backgrounds, with Scorpio Sky having fought in MMA competition). On the 6 October edition of AEW Dynamite, it was announced that Dos Santos would be making his professional wrestling debut on the 15 October edition of AEW Rampage, teaming with Sky and Page to take on Jake Hager, Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara (The Inner Circle) in a trios match.
Championships and accomplishments
Mixed Martial Arts
Ultimate Fighting Championship
UFC Heavyweight Championship (One time)
One successful title defense
Knockout of the Night (Three times) vs. Fabrício Werdum, Gabriel Gonzaga and Cain Velasquez
Fight of the Night (Three times) vs. Mark Hunt, Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis
Longest winning streak in UFC Heavyweight division history (9)
Most knockdowns landed in UFC Heavyweight division history (14)
Tied (Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, Thiago Santos, Maurício Rua & Khalil Rountree Jr.) for sixth most knockdowns landed in UFC history (14)
Tied (Cain Velasquez & Francis Ngannou) for second most knockouts in UFC Heavyweight division history (10) (behind Derrick Lewis)
Sixth most bouts in UFC Heavyweight division history (23)
Fourth most wins in UFC Heavyweight division history (15)
Fourth most total fight time in UFC Heavyweight division history (4:07:01)
Third most significant strikes landed in UFC Heavyweight division history (1109)
Sixth most total strikes landed in UFC Heavyweight division history (1217)
Highest takedown defense percentage in UFC Heavyweight division history (81.8%)
Personal life
Dos Santos has stated that Antônio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira is his hero.
He is a Roman Catholic.
In January 2013, he announced that he had divorced his wife of ten years before competing at UFC 155.
On 9 March 2017, Dos Santos's first child, a boy, was born. Dos Santos's second child, a daughter, was named after his mother.
Filmography
Dos Santos featured as one of the contestants for Dança dos Famosos, the Brazilian version of Dancing with the Stars, which started on 25 August 2019 at Globo's "Domingão do Faustão". Dos Santos was eliminated from the competition on 1 December 2019, placing fifth.