The Film Room: Junior dos Santos
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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder Junior dos Santos will return to the Octagon when he takes on Derrick Lewis in the UFC Fight Night 146 headliner on Saturday in Wichita, Kansas. Nearly 11 years after he made his organizational debut, “Cigano” finds himself in position to perhaps earn another shot at the championship he once held.
Dos Santos’ talents provide the material for this installment of
The Film Room.
Dos Santos’ other money punch is the rear-hand uppercut. Again, it looks like a wild and lucky shot, but notice how he doubles up on the jab and comes in with the uppercut as Fabricio Werdum attempts to counter the jab with an overhand right. A lot of dos Santos’ strikes look like someone just swinging for the fences, but there are clever setups behind them and he is always looking to draw reactions out of the opponent to set up his strikes.
One of the best movements of dos Santos’ career was when he dropped Stipe Miocic with a beautiful left hook. Notice how he throws the right straight while switching to a southpaw stance and then ducks under Miocic’s left hook before coming back with one of his own. Dos Santos usually struggles when his back is against the cage, but this left hook showed his cleverness, as he managed to exploit Miocic’s tendency to walk forward with sloppy punches.
In his most recent appearance, dos Santos dropped Tai Tuivasa with the same combination but from an orthodox stance. This is something dos Santos does a lot to get off the cage, and it works especially well against overly aggressive opponents like Miocic and Tuivasa. Derrick Lewis has his moments of rushing forward with wild punches, so watch for this combo if the Brazilian’s back is against the cage.
Dos Santos is one of the few heavyweights that can land spinning kicks with perfect accuracy and speed. Not many heavyweights even attempt such kicks, and they only add to his already deep bag of tricks on the feet. He also throws them to the body often. Generally, when fighters throw a spinning heel kick, they aim for the head and go for the finish. However, dos Santos will try to bury his heel into the opponent’s ribs or liver -- a tactic you do not often see in MMA at any weight.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder Junior dos Santos will return to the Octagon when he takes on Derrick Lewis in the UFC Fight Night 146 headliner on Saturday in Wichita, Kansas. Nearly 11 years after he made his organizational debut, “Cigano” finds himself in position to perhaps earn another shot at the championship he once held.
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Dos Santos won the heavyweight title in 2011 with a beautiful
overhand right against Cain
Velasquez, and the punch has been a staple of his offense his
entire career. Although the big overhand catches your attention,
the setup allows it to land. Both Velasquez and Mark Hunt bit
on the jab feint and attempted to land a jab of their own, only to
have dos Santos counter with the wild overhand right over the top
of their outstretched lead. People will see a punch like this and
think of it as a lucky shot, but when you pay attention, you see
that even wild punches like this have some thought behind them and
are intelligently designed.
Dos Santos’ other money punch is the rear-hand uppercut. Again, it looks like a wild and lucky shot, but notice how he doubles up on the jab and comes in with the uppercut as Fabricio Werdum attempts to counter the jab with an overhand right. A lot of dos Santos’ strikes look like someone just swinging for the fences, but there are clever setups behind them and he is always looking to draw reactions out of the opponent to set up his strikes.
One of the best movements of dos Santos’ career was when he dropped Stipe Miocic with a beautiful left hook. Notice how he throws the right straight while switching to a southpaw stance and then ducks under Miocic’s left hook before coming back with one of his own. Dos Santos usually struggles when his back is against the cage, but this left hook showed his cleverness, as he managed to exploit Miocic’s tendency to walk forward with sloppy punches.
In his most recent appearance, dos Santos dropped Tai Tuivasa with the same combination but from an orthodox stance. This is something dos Santos does a lot to get off the cage, and it works especially well against overly aggressive opponents like Miocic and Tuivasa. Derrick Lewis has his moments of rushing forward with wild punches, so watch for this combo if the Brazilian’s back is against the cage.
Dos Santos is one of the few heavyweights that can land spinning kicks with perfect accuracy and speed. Not many heavyweights even attempt such kicks, and they only add to his already deep bag of tricks on the feet. He also throws them to the body often. Generally, when fighters throw a spinning heel kick, they aim for the head and go for the finish. However, dos Santos will try to bury his heel into the opponent’s ribs or liver -- a tactic you do not often see in MMA at any weight.
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