Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET UFC will provide a heavyweight fight between Junior dos Santos (16-3, 12 KO) and Stipe Micocic (12-1, 8 KO) that will have big repercussions throughout UFC's heavyweight division. Fight fans can live stream the main card for free by clicking this link.
Micocic is not as widely known as JdS, but he has won his last three fights against quality competition, flashing power most recently by knocking out Fabio Maldonado, while showcasing stamina in the previous two, both decision victories.
The more famous dos Santos is expressing extreme confidence as he heads into this bout.
"I believe he's going to try to stand up with me," dos Santos told ESPN.com. "But as soon as I start to hit him, he's going to try to take me down." He then hinted he's added to his repertoire following his latest loss to heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.
"If he does take me down, I'm going to submit him," dos Santos said. "It will be Junior dos Santos' first submission win in the UFC. You like that, right?"
Junior dos Santos said the two losses to Velasquez, which sandwiched an impressive win over Mark Hunt, taught him that always gunning for the spectacular finish may not always be the right approach.
"Even when things aren't going good, I try to knock people out. It didn't work well against Cain Velasquez and I learned I needed to improve," dos Santos said.
"Having strategy is one thing -- to put that strategy in action is another. I'm still a striking guy, but when I see I have to change my game plan I have to be able to do that -- not just physically but also mentally."
Full Fight Card:
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Nate Diaz
Alistair Overeem vs. Stefan Struve
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Matt Mitrione
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