Junior Dos Santos returns
Former heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos is set to make an MMA comeback on the inaugural MVP event — a notable return for a veteran who once held the division’s top belt (espn.com). His signing adds star power to MVP’s launch and reshuffles veteran depth in heavyweight matchmaking. (x.com).
Junior dos Santos is slated to meet Robelis Despaigne on the undercard; MVP and ESPN identify Despaigne as the current Karate Combat heavyweight champion. (espn.com) The fight is scheduled for May 16, 2026, at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, and MVP says the event will stream live globally only on Netflix. (mostvaluablepromotions.com) Despaigne is an Olympic taekwondo bronze medalist who signed with the UFC in December 2023, went 1-2 there, then moved to Karate Combat where he put together an extended knockout streak and captured the promotion’s heavyweight title. ( ) Dos Santos — born Jan. 30, 1984 — is the 2011 UFC heavyweight champion who knocked out Cain Velasquez to win the belt and has since appeared outside the UFC, including two fights in Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred BareKnuckle MMA after his release. ( ) MVP has stacked the May 16 card with three marquee fights — Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano, Francis Ngannou vs. Philippe Lins and Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry — a lineup announced by co-founders Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian. ( ) MVP noted tickets are on sale via Ticketmaster and that the event will be available at no additional cost to Netflix’s reported 325+ million global members. (mostvaluablepromotions.com)
