The 36-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist and a former UFC heavyweight championwill return to the cage later this summer.
dos Santos has agreed verbally to a matchup against Jairzinho Rozenstruik for UFC 252 on August 15, according to ESPN and Combate.
dos Santos (21-7) will look to snap a two-fight losing streak. He most recently lost to Curtis Blaydesvia TKO in January.
Rozenstruik (10-1) just suffered his first pro loss when he got knocked out last month by Francis Ngannou in just 20 seconds. Prior to that, the Surinamese fighter won his first four UFC fights.
The UFC has yet to finalize where the event will take place.
The 33year-old Mexican American mixed martial artist and former UFC bantamweight and flyweight champion tells TMZ that he’d consider a return to the Octagon if he were given a fight against Alexander Volkanovski.
Cejudo wants a crack at Volkanovski’s UFC featherweight title to complete the championship trifecta — a feat no one in promotion history has ever pulled off.
“I’ve done everything in MMA,” Cejudo told TMZ.
“I’m satisfied with my career. There would only be one fight that would really bring me back — that would really wake me up in the morning. Other than [boxer] Ryan Garcia, it would be Alexander Volkanovski. That overgrown midget. I would love to make him bend the knee. He’s already halfway there.”
Since the retirement announcement, the UFC has removed Cejudo from the promotion’s official rankings and taken him off the website as bantamweight champion. UFC president Dana White has said that a vacant bantamweight title fight between Petr Yan and former featherweight champion Jose Aldo is in the offing this summer.
Cejudo, though, acknowledged to TMZ for the first time that there was indeed a way to bring him back. That would be a chance at a third belt.
“I want to be different,” Cejudo said. “There’s a lot of champ champs. Obviously there’s only one Triple C — there’s only one Olympic champ, flyweight champ, bantamweight champion of the world. It’s just to cement it and go in the history books as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.”
Cejudo (16-2) is on a six-fight winning streak, a stretch that goes back to 2016. The Arizona resident is one of only four fighters in UFC history told hold two titles in two different weight classes at the same time. Cejudo owns wins over Cruz, TJ Dillashaw and Demetrious Johnson.
Cynthia Calvillo is heading back to the Octagon next month.
The 32-year-old Latina mixed martial artist and fellow UFC women’s flyweight Jessica Eye have agreed to fight on June 13 at UFC Fight Night, according to ESPN.
The bout would headline the event, sources said, though a location wasn’t immediately known.
Eye (15-7, 1 NC) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Viviane Araujo at UFC 245 in December. It was her first fight since she challenged for the flyweight title and suffered a devastating head-kick knockout to champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 238 last June.
Eye, who is currently ESPN‘s No. 8-ranked women’s flyweight, has won four of her past five fights.
Calvillo (8-1-1) returns to the Octagon after fighting to a majority draw with Marina Rodriguez in December. That bout was fought at a catchweight after Calvillo missed the contracted strawweight limit.
Next Saturday’s UFC cardis expected to take place at the company’s Apex facility in Las Vegas. The location is subject to change until Wednesday, when the Nevada State Athletic Commission is scheduled to formally vote on reopening the state to combat sports.
NSAC officials indefinitely suspended all combat sports in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
