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Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff Writer
Jorge Masvidal‘s Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA will crown its first heavyweight champion early in 2024.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos will fight fellow UFC veteran Alan Belcher for the title on March 2 in Orlando, the promotion announced Tuesday night.
In his Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA debut, Dos Santos defeated another former UFC heavyweight champion, Fabricio Werdum, by split decision back in September. The 39-year-old Brazilian fighter had dropped five straight prior to that victory.
Dos Santos was released from the UFC in 2020. “Cigano” held the UFC heavyweight title in 2011 and 2012.
Belcher, 39, beat UFC veteran Roy Nelson via split decision at Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA in November. The Arkansas native is the Bare Knuckle FC heavyweight champion and owns a 4-0 record in bareknuckle boxing. In MMA, Belcher had not fought in 10 years before the bout with Nelson in Masvidal’s promotion.
Belcher is also 5-0 with five knockouts as a pro boxer.