Junior Dos Santos didn’t receive much good news on Wednesday when his name appeared in the headlines of every major news site.
Dos Santos’ opponent at UFC 160 Alistair Overeem was forced out of their bout due to injury, which now leaves the former UFC heavyweight champion without an opponent for May 25.
The UFC is generally very quick to find replacement opponents, but the problem right now according to Dos Santos’ camp is that many of the top-ten heavyweights are tied up with fights already scheduled around that date.
UFC officials have yet to confirm Overeem is out of the fight, but if that’s the case Dos Santos’ team is unsure what the next move might be.
“The top guys are all tied up, but at the same time Junior’s not looking to sit out too long,” said Ana Guedes, Dos Santos’ attorney and representative when speaking to Bleacher Report on Wednesday. “If it’s a real extensive injury (to Overeem) or something, you don’t want to wait.”
According to the initial report about Overeem’s injury, he is expected to be out four to five weeks, but the nature of his ailment is unknown at this time.
Depending on the time frame for Overeem’s return, the UFC could opt to rebook the fight for a later date or keep Dos Santos on the UFC 160 card against a new opponent.
The only problem is the lack of options at heavyweight to face Dos Santos. The only fighter currently ranked in the top ten according to the official UFC rankings that could potentially be available is Mark Hunt, fresh off of his knockout win over Stefan Struve at UFC on Fuel 8 last weekend in Japan.
Hunt has already started a campaign to be considered for the fight, but it’s unknown if the UFC will book the fight or await word on another opponent for Dos Santos.
For his part, Dos Santos is happy to face whoever the UFC sees fit.
“We’re definitely just waiting for news,” Guedes said. “Junior’s position is ‘I don’t choose my opponents. So if they choose for me to fight Overeem and I have to wait so be it and if they decide there’s another guy I should fight, then bring it on’.”
Since coming to the UFC, Dos Santos has faced a veritable murderer’s row of heavyweight opponents so it’s not likely he’d turn down any potential fight the UFC offers or complain if they choose to delay the fight with Overeem and reschedule for a later date.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.
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