Former UFC heavyweight king Junior Dos Santos is still extremely upset about his recent knockout loss to fast-rising heavyweight contender Ciryl Gane.
Dos Santos went as far as to say the loss left him feeling "like the victim being guilty of crime, theft, murder, or rape.”
After Dos Santos suffered his loss at UFC 256, UFC president Dana White agreed that the elbow from Gane was perfectly legal and even suggested that JDS should retire due to being knocked out yet again. These comments from White did not sit well with the former heavyweight champ. When speaking to AG Fight, Dos Santos fired back at White and the UFC for not saying the elbow was illegal. He then said he felt like the situation is comparable to a victim being guilty of a crime someone else committed.
“The UFC said nothing more, for him everything is fine, which for me is absurd to happen. A clearly illegal shot and several fighters and the president favorable to what happened, and for me, this is tremendously absurd. In fact, everyone agrees that it was illegal, but what they say is that I turned around and positioned myself that way.” Dos Santos said.
Dos Santos then went on to say “In terms of comparison, which is not even supposed to be used, it is like the victim being guilty of crime, theft, murder, rape. I don’t think it was intentional, but it does not remove the illegality. They are saying that I turned, but I didn’t turn. I was already on the side of him for about eight seconds and you can see the elbow from that point and behind the head.”
Dos Santos also expressed his belief that the reason why the UFC did not stand up for him in his protest of the strike is that the company is trying to push Gane as a future heavyweight title contender. Dos Santos says he’s disappointed that this situation happened and he just wants justice for the finishing blow.
“I think they are trying to pass over this, perhaps because of the negative moment I am living in my career, coming from three consecutive defeats and the guy coming on the rise, still undefeated and maybe they want to jump on that. I don’t know and I don’t care. I just want justice to be done.” Dos Santos said.
At UFC 256, Dos Santos suffered his fourth consecutive loss by knockout when he was finished by French heavyweight Ciryl Gane. There was a lot of controversy from Dos Santos and his team around the finish where they were arguing that the strike which Gane landed was to the back of Dos Santos' head. Gane landed an elbow on dos Santos right when he turned his head, and the elbow landed partially to the back of the Brazilian’s head. Despite the arguments from Dos Santos, Gane was still awarded the KO win because the referee felt that because Dos Santos' head was turning at the time the strike landed it was unintentional therefore was deemed to be a legal blow.
What did you think of the stoppage? Do you think Dos Santos is right in his protest or do you believe that it was a perfectly legal strike by Gane?
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