Junior dos Santos faces Fabricio Werdum again

Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum are meeting again, but this time the story leaves the gloves behind.

The former UFC heavyweight champions are booked for a grappling match on August 8 at Kings Championship 2 in Florianopolis, Brazil. It is the third chapter between two names tied to one of the strongest heavyweight eras the UFC ever had.

Dos Santos owns the first two results. The first came in 2008, when he arrived in the UFC as a dangerous unknown and knocked out Werdum in just over a minute. The second came 15 years later under bare-knuckle MMA rules, where dos Santos won a close split decision.

Now the setting changes completely. No boxing exchanges, no small gloves, no heavyweight trading in the pocket. This one moves into Werdum’s world: grips, pressure, guard, passing, submissions and old heavyweight pride on Brazilian soil.

Werdum finally gets the rules he wants

Werdum may be down 0-2 in the series, but the third meeting gives him the cleanest path he has ever had against dos Santos.

He is one of the most decorated grapplers ever to hold a UFC title. ADCC champion. IBJJF world champion. A heavyweight who submitted Fedor Emelianenko in Strikeforce and later tapped Cain Velasquez to become undisputed UFC champion.

That is why this matchup feels different from the first two. In MMA, dos Santos could keep Werdum at boxing range and make the fight about his hands. In grappling, Werdum does not have to walk through punches to reach the positions where he has spent a lifetime winning.

For Werdum, this is the version of the rivalry that should have belonged to him from the start.

• Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum meet again on August 8.
• The match takes place at Kings Championship 2 in Florianopolis, Brazil.
• The third meeting will be contested under grappling rules.
• Dos Santos beat Werdum by knockout in their first UFC fight in 2008.
• Dos Santos also won their 2023 bare-knuckle MMA rematch by split decision.
• Both men are former UFC heavyweight champions.

Dos Santos walks into enemy territory

Dos Santos has the rivalry score, but the format does not favor him on paper.

His UFC rise was built on boxing, footwork and the kind of hand speed that made heavyweights look late. The Werdum knockout in his debut changed his life instantly. From there, he won seven straight in the UFC and eventually flattened Cain Velasquez to win the heavyweight belt.

That version of “Cigano” lived behind a jab, a right hand and the confidence that most heavyweights could not match his speed. Grappling removes most of that comfort.

Still, dos Santos is not walking into this match with nothing. He has spent a career defending takedowns against heavyweights, surviving clinches, scrambling under pressure and dealing with elite MMA grapplers who wanted him on the mat. Werdum is the specialist, but dos Santos knows how heavyweight bodies move in ugly positions.

The health angle makes grappling the right format

The grappling rules matter for another reason.

Werdum has dealt with serious health concerns in recent years, including reports of brain lesions and symptoms connected to head trauma. A full MMA return would bring far more risk than this kind of match.

That does not make grappling harmless. Heavyweights can still collide, twist joints, scramble badly and get hurt. But compared with another MMA fight between two aging former champions, this format removes the most dangerous part: repeated head strikes.

For dos Santos, the timing is also interesting. He recently fought Robelis Despaigne at MVP MMA 1 and suffered a fast knockout loss. Before that, he knocked out Alan Belcher in 2024 under the Gamebred banner. He has stayed more active than Werdum, but activity at this stage also brings more damage.

That gives the match a strange balance. Werdum has the better pure grappling base. Dos Santos has been the more active combat athlete. Both men are past their prime. Both still carry names that Brazilian fight fans understand immediately.

Brazil gets a cleaner ending to an old rivalry

Dos Santos vs Werdum 3 is not about title rankings or a path back to the UFC.

It is about two former champions taking an old rivalry into the one format they never used before. Their first fight launched dos Santos. Their second fight gave him another win years later. The third gives Werdum the chance to answer without having to trade punches with one of the best heavyweight boxers of his era.

The match also fits Brazil. Both men made their names worldwide, but this chapter belongs at home. Florianopolis gets two UFC heavyweight champions, a rivalry that spans nearly two decades, and a ruleset that changes the whole conversation.

Dos Santos has the score. Werdum has the ground. On August 8, the rivalry stops being about who lands first and becomes about who can control the mat.