Junior dos Santos withdraws from Fabricio Werdum grappling match

Junior dos Santos has withdrawn from his scheduled grappling match against Fabricio Werdum, the former UFC heavyweight champion announced Monday.

The two ex-titleholders were set to compete at Kings Championship in Florianopolis, Brazil, on Aug. 8, MMA Fighting reports. The promotion has not yet confirmed whether Werdum will remain on the card with a replacement opponent or if he will also be pulled from the event.

Dos Santos still open to future Werdum grappling match

According to the report, dos Santos left the door open for a grappling bout with Werdum down the line. The heavyweights have met twice under MMA rules, with dos Santos winning both encounters. He stunned Werdum with an 81-second knockout at UFC 90 in 2008, then won a decision in their bare-knuckle MMA rematch 14 years later.

Dos Santos had been inactive since back-to-back Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA wins in 2024, when he beat Werdum on decision before stopping Alan Belcher for the heavyweight title. He returned to MMA competition this past May on the MVP show on Netflix, where he was knocked out by Robelis Despaigne.

Werdum's loss to dos Santos in bare-knuckle marked his first combat sports appearance since stepping away from MMA in 2024, following a disputed bout with Renan Ferreira under the PFL banner.

Photo: Peter Gordon / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Original reporting:

• mmafighting.com — Junior dos Santos out of grappling match with Fabricio Werdum | MMA Fighting