Junior Dos Santos knows what MVP wants, plans to give it, then stick around
· Yahoo Sports
VENICE, Calif. – It's been more than two years since Junior dos Santos put someone out with his hands.
And before that, he'd gone five years without a knockout. That wouldn't be the end of the world for some people, but JDS is a former UFC heavyweight champion. His gas tank almost certainly needs KOs more often than that.
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Saturday, Dos Santos (21-10) have another chance for one when he takes on Robelis Despaigne (5-2) to open the main card of MVP MMA's Netflix debut event.
"He's a big guy – very fast, actually, for how big he is, and he kicks very hard," Dos Santos told MMA Junkie and other reporters Wednesday ahead of a workout. "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."
JDS will get things rolling ahead of a headliner of Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano. Before that, Francis Ngannou, still regarded as the best heavyweight in MMA, will return. And Nate Diaz fights Mike Perry.
Dos Santos said the chance to open the main card as the first official MMA fight on Netflix will be a cool footnote. But he also thinks he's on the precipice of something bigger with MVP – and has designs on sticking around for a while if things go well for him and the promotion Saturday.
"I'm only 42 years old," Dos Santos said. "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."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dos Santos knows what MVP wants, plans to give it, then stick around