Junior Dos Santos Frustrated At ‘Illegal’ Finish To Loss Against Ciryl Gane At UFC 256
Former UFC Heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos has continued to question the legality of his loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC 256.
Speaking to MMAFighting, Dos Santos shared a long thorough interview where he shared his thoughts on the fight itself and the stoppage that ended the bout in the first.
“The way things happened in the end of the fight gets me reflecting a lot, I can’t quite accept it. Not just the way it was, but mainly because of people in the business have said about that. Not that I couldn’t get knocked out, none of that. Quite the opposite, I’ve always accepted my defeats with humbleness,” Dos Santos said to MMA Fighting.
The former Heavyweight champion continued recognizing that in the heavyweight division it is “where the hand lands and the person goes down,” although he remains frustrated at “MMA Specialists” who continue to call the finishing elbow a legal blow.
During the fight, Gane appeared to stagger Dos Santos with a strike that saw him aggressively pursue Dos Santos to the cage. Once against the cage, Gane landed a massive elbow that was enough to see the ref call the fight. Immediately after the stoppage, Dos Santos protested the blow stating that it was to the back of the head. Upon viewing of the replay, both the commission and commentary team pointed out that due to the shot connecting the ear it would be counted as a legal strike and so the finish would still stand.
Another defense for the stoppage was that Dos Santos had turned his head shortly before the blow causing it to hit the back of his head, however, Dos Santos disputes this claim stating that he had already been in the position for some time before the blow was landed.
With this being Dos Santos’s fourth consecutive knockout loss in the last 18 months the former champion appears concerned with his position in the company stating that while he has five fights remaining on his contract “that doesn’t mean anything.”
“Our contract with the UFC can end whenever they want. I think they have the intention to let many fighters go now. I don’t know how it will go. I think that’s on them.” Dos Santos shared with MMA Fighting.
