Junior dos Santos
| Junior dos Santos | |
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| Born | Junior dos Santos Almeida January 30, 1984 Caçador, Santa Catarina, Brazil |
| Other names | Cigano, JDS |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |
| Weight | 240 lb (109 kg; 17 st 2 lb) |
| Division | Heavyweight |
| Reach | 77.0 in (196 cm) |
| Style | Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Capoeira |
| Fighting out of | Salvador, Bahia, Brazil |
| Team | American Top Team |
| Trainer |
Boxing & MMA: Luiz Dorea BJJ: Yuri Carlton |
| Rank | Black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Yuri Carlton |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 22 |
| Wins | 18 |
| By knockout | 12 |
| By submission | 2 |
| By decision | 4 |
| Losses | 4 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| By submission | 1 |
| By decision | 1 |
| Website | juniordossantos |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
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Junior dos Santos (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʒũnjoʁ dus ˈsɐ̃tus]; born Junior Dos Santos Almeida; January 30, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and a former UFC Heavyweight Champion. As of December 2016, he is #4 in official UFC heavyweight rankings, in addition to being ranked as the #5 heavyweight in the world by Sherdog.
Born into a poor family, dos Santos was raised by a single mother. In order to help his family he started to work at the age of ten. His first serious contact with martial arts happened at the age of 21, when he began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Yuri Carlton. After only six months of training, dos Santos won a few jiu-jitsu tournaments in Salvador. Dos Santos was soon invited to join an MMA practice, where he met his boxing coach Luiz Carlos Dórea. Roughly a year after he started training jiu-jitsu he had his debut professional fight.
Dos Santos turned professional in 2006 at the age of 21. He fought in small promotions in Brazil, such as Demo Fight, Extreme Fighting Championship, Minotauro Fights and Mo Team League. He won six of his first seven bouts, suffering his only loss to Joaquim Ferreira, a fighter he'd previously beaten.
Dos Santos debuted for the UFC on October 25, 2008 at UFC 90. Considered a major underdog, he knocked out top contender Fabrício Werdum at a minute and twenty seconds of the first round with a strong uppercut, earning himself a "Knockout of the Year" award.
Returning on February 21, 2009 at UFC 95 he fought promotional newcomer Stefan Struve, defeating him at fifty-four seconds of the first round by TKO.
On September 19, 2009, Dos Santos continued his winning streak and defeated Mirko Filipović at UFC 103. During the third round Dos Santos dominated Filipović in the clinch with knee strikes and punches. A knee from the clinch and a right uppercut apparently caused damage to Mirko's left eye, causing him to verbally submit.
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