Junior Dos Santos suffered a freak injury on his return to MMA on Friday night as he lost his promotional debut for Eagle FC in Miami, Florida.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Dos Santos was facing fellow former UFC heavyweight Jorgan De Castro in the main event of Eagle FC 47, but despite a strong start to the bout, awful luck befell the Brazilian, who suffered a dislocated shoulder in the third round.
Dos Santos appeared to have the edge on De Castro through the first two rounds, and was beginning to find his range with strong shots while also presenting a constantly moving target for his opponent to hit.
But, with “Cigano” seemingly building momentum, disaster struck. A routine straight right from the Brazilian connected on De Castro, but JDS immediately recoiled in pain. De Castro immediately recognised the situation and, rather than attempting to take advantage by throwing shots, he pointed out the injury to both Dos Santos and the referee.
With Dos Santos unable to use his arm, the fight was waved off at the 35-second mark as De Castro was gifted the ninth win of his MMA career.
For Dos Santos, it was cruel luck as he looked to make a big impression on his return to active competition. The Brazilian’s most recent bout prior to this weekend came back in December of 2020, when he lost to Ciryl Gane via second-round TKO. That defeat continued his losing skid to four straight fights.
Now that run has extended to five with his injury TKO defeat to De Castro, but Eagle FC, and their owner Khabib Nurmagomedov, are still hopeful they can co-promote with Bellator president Scott Coker to make a Fedor Emeliananko vs. Dos Santos bout a reality.
One thing is for sure – with “Cigano’s” last win coming back in March 2019, the Brazilian will be back with a point to prove as soon as he has recovered from his shoulder injury.
