Ladies and gentlemen – we officially have a banger on our hands.

As revealed today Junior Dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum, two of the biggest legends in the history of Heavyweight MMA, are set to do battle in bare knuckle MMA as part of Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal’s Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA promotion. The promotion, recently founded by Masvidal, is not only putting on the biggest event in its new history, but has also managed to get two massive, massive names from the world of MMA to do it.

Gamebred Bareknuckle are set to play host to Dos Santos and Werdum running it back. Roy Nelson and Dillon Cleckler are pictured with Jorge Masvidal (background).

In their most recent event, Gamebred Bareknuckle put on a firecracker of a main event between Roy “Big Country” Nelson and Dillon Cleckler, a fight that ended in a highlight-reel worthy KO for Big Country. Dos Santos and Werdum will certainly be hoping that they can do the same when they headline the show on September 8th, 2023 at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

The Rematch 15 Years in the Making

For those of you who may be too young to remember, Junior Dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum have actually fought before. The two former UFC heavyweight champions met at UFC 90 in October of 2008, where Dos Santos secured a major upset win. Dos Santos secured a first round KO with an uppercut that nearly blew Fabricio Werdum’s head clean off his shoulders. 

Junior Dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum are set to run it back, with Dos Santos knocking Werdum into oblivion in their first matchup at UFC 90 in 2008. (Image Credit: ESPN)

Whilst both fighters are a lot older, and are very much at the tail ends of their careers, it still proves to be a genuinely intriguing matchup. Fabricio Werdum still remains an incredibly skilled BJJ fighter, capable of putting up a hell of a fight against anybody. The same can be said for Junior Dos Santos, who, admittedly, is on a real downturn in form, suffering a five fight losing skid (the most recent of which being a loss to Yorgan de Castro at Eagle FC in May of last year). Nonetheless, this is a very exciting fight, with two of the biggest stars of a golden age of heavyweight MMA renewing their rivalry once more.

Make sure to tune in to Gamebred Bareknuckle to watch this fight. Any time either of these two legends fight, it is an occasion not to be missed!

Keelin McNamara

[Scratches record] Yeah, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I ended up here…or not. My name’s Keelin McNamara, and I am an AVID combat sports fan. Always have been, and probably always will be. I started writing and podcasting about MMA in the Summer of 2020 (yeah, we don’t talk about that here either). I’ve been doing it ever since, and have loved every single minute of it! Thanks for checking out whatever it is you’re reading – I hope you enjoy it!