Welcome to the GetMoreSports UFC Fight Night: Rothwell vs Dos Santos preview. This Sunday the UFC heads to Zagreb, Croatia, to put on it’s latest event and play host to a heavyweight main event.
In that main event we’ll see Ben Rothwell face off against former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos.
Rothwell has been on an absolute tear as of late and, currently riding a four fight winning streak, one imagines a victory will likely cement him a shot at the title. Heavyweight has traditionally been the UFC’s thinnest division, and a weight where it seems hard to garner any consistent momentum.
As an example of how topsy turvy heavyweight can get, current number one contender Stipe Miocic faces champion Fabricio Werdum on the back of two victories, before which, he lost to Junior Dos Santos.
Rothwell currently owns recent victories over Alistair Overeem, Matt Mitrione and Josh Barnett. Those last two names hold some interest, as Rothwell finished both bouts with the same previously unseen choke. Barnett, a veteran of the game, had never tapped in a submission hold previously.
Known as a Go-Go choke, Rothwell has yet to reveal the details of the maneuver, instead referring to it as his “cheat code.” Should Rothwell tap Dos Santos with the same hold, his claim for a shot at Werdum (or Miocic) will intensify, as real submission skills in the heavyweight world come few and far between.
On the other side of the cage will be Junior Dos Santos. Once champion of the division, Dos Santos has had a rough few years. After two vicious wars with Cain Velasquez, Dos Santos just hasn’t seemed the same, never more apparent than in his last fight; a knockout loss to Alistair Overeem in December.
Related Story: The Decline Of Junior Dos Santos
Alternating wins and losses in his last six, it’s quite possible that another bad showing could end with calls for his retirement. The Brazillian fan favourite has often been accused of being too tough for his own good.
Speaking on MMAFighting’s MMA Hour, Dos Santos made it clear that for him, the end is nowhere in sight.
“Right now, I feel this fight that I have with Ben Rothwell is tougher than my last fight,” Dos Santos said. “I know I had a negative result in my last fight but this one now, I think if I win, and I will win this fight now, this win will put me back in the place I was before, the number one or two in the rankings and close to a title fight again. Of course I’m not thinking about title fight now, I just wanna be in the best position I can. It’s my whole life, it’s very important for me.”
In the co-main event of the evening, it’s the returning Gabriel Gonzaga (who actually holds a victory over Rothwell) against Derrick Lewis. As with the headliners, both are heavyweights, although neither currently appear in the UFC rankings.
Gonzaga at this stage of his career is somewhat of a journeyman, having lost to the majority of the bigger names in the division. His last appearance was a victory over the unheralded Konstantin Erokhin in December last year. Gonzaga has somewhat of a presence in eastern Europe, as he became something of a rival to the beloved Mirko Crocop over the latters career.
Lewis, on the other hand, could be argued is on the up. At 31, he’s relatively young for heavyweight and currently has a two bout win streak. He’s already fought once this year, heaving beat Damian Grabowski in February.
Other than that, the card is mostly made up of eastern Europeans with minimal name value in the States. This card, with the exception of the main event, is something for the locals, perhaps in an attempt to slowly but surely increase the UFC brand name in international markets.
Check out the odds, presented by Miguel Iturrate for the fight here.
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