Junior dos Santos is aiming to break his knockout drought when he faces Robelis Despaigne on the main card of MVP MMA's Netflix debut event.
The former UFC heavyweight champion, now 42, will open the main card against Despaigne, a matchup he believes was designed to produce fireworks. The event is headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano, with Nate Diaz also scheduled to fight Mike Perry.
Speaking about Despaigne, dos Santos said, "He's a big guy – very fast, actually, for how big he is, and he kicks very hard," and added, "He has some good punches, and I'm ready for that. People have been saying that his ground game is not that good, and I'm always looking for the knockout. I know MVP knows what they are doing – why they put me against him: two strikers. They want to see knockouts."
Dos Santos has not scored a knockout in more than two years, and before his current drought, he went five years without a KO. Still, he remains confident, stating, "I'm only 42 years old."
He also expressed enthusiasm about joining MVP MMA: "After I've been seeing what MVP has been doing, especially with the boxing thing and now with the MMA thing, I told myself I've got to be there. You see the power of the words, the power of when you put the right energy on things, things happen. I'm here now and I'm looking forward to the future with this with this company."
"When I see even Francis Ngannou here, there's so many possibilities in this promotion, and I'm happy with that."
