(Photos by Donald Miralle/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC vs Getty Images)
UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos (15-0, 1NC) feels the success of his career is tied directly to his striking feeling very much that he believes “so much in my hands.”
Dos Santos was a recent guest on The MMA Hour podcast with host Mauro Ranallo.
‘Cigano’ was asked to talk about his skills as a striker, having finished ten opponents by (T)KO in his pro career, including his most recent opponent Cain Velasquez, for the UFC championship belt.
“I think because..I train a lot, you know I love boxing, I love to be a fighter. I love what I do and boxing is very natural for me. I can move very fast and I think I hit hard. My coach he used to tell me that, I hit hard and I believe so much in my hands. All the fights I come to knock people out. I really believe I can do that and that’s why I think my development in boxing was better.”
After the fight, it was revealed that Dos Santos had actually suffered a torn meniscus in his knee and was on crutches ten days before the fight. The Brazilian was able to fight despite the injury, scoring a first round KO of Velasquez. Afterwards Dos Santos underweight successful knee surgery and he expects to get back to training normally very soon.
“I’m feeling great about my knee now and in about another ten days I’ll begin training normally. Cause now I am working boxing, training workout but I can’ train in Jiu-Jitsu, but in ten days I’ll be able to train normally again.”
Dos Santos goes on to discuss the UFC 141 bout between Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem, giving his thoughts on the matchup between himself versus the former Strikeforce champion.
“It will be a standup war. I believe so much in my boxing, in my standup skills you know. He’s really good too fighting standup, but I think he’s slow. He’s too big and too slow for me. I will use my speed to try to beat him.”
The whole interview with the UFC heavyweight champion kicks off at 45:00 of the podcast with Mauro Ranallo. Other guests include Alistair Overeem, Strikeforce fighter James Terry, and MMA Weekly’s Damon Martin.