Junior dos Santos set to compete against Kubrat Pulev at Triller's second Triad Combat event

Junior dos Santos is set to fight Kubrat Pulev at the next Triller Triad Combat event. Santos, a former UFC heavyweight champion, has been recently performing as a professional wrestler for AEW.

According to TMZ Sports, Junior dos Santos has signed a deal with Triller and will fight Pulev in the second Triad Combat event likely in late-February 2022.

The co-main event features a bout between former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort and former boxing light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson.

The Triad Combat fights are promoted as mixed rules bouts – primarily featuring the use of boxing techniques with no elbows, knees, kicks, or ground fighting. Dirty boxing in the clinch is permitted to a certain extent, and a kickboxing-style glove is used for the fights.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson will represent 'Team MMA' as its captain, whereas former boxing heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs will serve as the captain for 'Team Boxing' at the upcoming Triad Combat event. The two were coaches for the first Triad Combat event as well.

The first Triller Triad Combat event transpired this November. It was headlined by a fight between Kubrat Pulev and former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir. The bout saw Pulev score a dominant first-round TKO win.

This was Pulev’s first combat sports contest since challenging for the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles in December 2020. ‘The Cobra’ lost to then-champion Anthony Joshua via ninth-round KO.

Junior dos Santos’ most recent professional MMA fight was a second-round TKO loss against Ciryl Gane at UFC 256 in December 2020. JDS was released from the UFC in March this year.

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Junior dos Santos was unhappy with the way his UFC run ended

Junior dos Santos was on a four-fight losing streak when he was released from the UFC earlier this year. ‘Cigano’ has maintained that he was unhappy during the final stages of his UFC run.

Speaking to MMA Fighting, JDS admitted that he was surprised by the coldness with which the UFC handled his release. The 37-year-old suggested that he was coerced into accepting some of his final UFC fights before he had time to properly prepare for the bouts and hadn’t recovered from injury issues.

Furthermore, Junior dos Santos also appealed his loss to Ciryl Gane to. The Gane fight was JDS’ final UFC fight and saw him lose via TKO due to an elbow. Dos Santos claimed the elbow was an illegal strike to the back of his head. UFC president Dana White later shot down JDS’ claims.

Despite Dos Santos' appeal, the loss to Gane wasn't overturned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Meanwhile, interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane will fight UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in a title unification bout at UFC 270 on January 22nd.