Junior dos Santos has heard all the comments that he is past his prime and needs to retire. However, he doesn’t believe that is true.
At UFC 256, dos Santos suffered a TKO loss to Ciryl Gane which was his fourth straight loss and all coming by knockout. For the former UFC heavyweight champion, he plans on getting back into the win column this year and shutting everyone up.
“Professionally, it’s has been rather heavy moment in my career,” dos Santos said to AG Fight. “This is a tough sport and you need to be psychologically healthy in order to give your best. I feel great physically, but I feel like my psychological side has been affected. You have to tear down so many walls that it takes a toll. I’ve been dedicating myself to put my mind in the right place. I love to fight, I want to go on, I’m one of the best heavyweights to ever do it. It hasn’t been happening for me in the octagon lately. I just need to make some adjustments and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
“This year of 2021, I’ll shut up a lot of mouths. What gets me are people who say they understand fighting going against me for this moment, like everything is fine. This year will be to shut up this kind of thing. It’s the year to slap them in the face, to silence everyone who doubts me. I’ll turn it all around. It’s the year to make adjustments and make it happen.”
Junior dos Santos has not won since he TKO’d Derrick Lewis in March of 2019. It was the third win in a row as he had also beaten Tai Tuivasa and Blagoy Ivanov.
The Brazilian is currently 11th at heavyweight and when and who he will fight next is uncertain at this time.