Former
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder
Junior dos
Santos combines genuine charisma with world-class skill as well
as anyone in mixed martial arts history. “Cigano” turns 40 on Jan.
30.
Dos Santos made his professional debut in 2006, arrived in the UFC
a little more than two years later and eventually climbed all the
way to the top of the mountain. The Brazilian boxer captured the
undisputed heavyweight crown on Nov. 12, 2011, when he cut down
Cain
Velasquez with punches just 64 seconds into their historic UFC
on Fox 1 main event. Though his reign was short-lived—it lasted 413
days—and he went to lose two subsequent rematches with Velasquez in
lopsided fashion, dos Santos’ place among the all-time greats was
secure. Wins over
Fabricio
Werdum (twice),
Stipe
Miocic,
Mirko “Cro
Cop” Filipovic,
Shane
Carwin,
Frank Mir,
Mark
Hunt and
Derrick
Lewis highlight his resume, which includes 11 first-round
finishes.
Others in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of
January:
JAN. 1
Guy
Mezger, 56
Eiji
Mitsuoka, 48
Charles
Diaz, 47
Joe
Vedepo, 42
Robbie
Peralta, 38
Gadzhimurad
Antigulov, 37
John
Lineker, 34
Stephen
Loman, 32
Emily
Ducote, 31
Herica
Tiburcio, 31
JAN. 2
Igor
Pokrajac, 45
Mac
Danzig, 44
Luis
Santos, 44
Oli
Thompson, 44
Mahmoud
Hassan, 43
Valentino
Petrescu, 43
Konstantin
Erokhin, 42
Tom Santos,
39
Julian
Shore, 35
Brittany
Camozzi, 32
JAN. 3
Rodney
Glunder, 49
Owen
Carr, 37
Josh
Martin, 37
Harry
Hunsucker, 35
Aleksandar
Ilic, 35
Tanner
Saraceno, 33
Vlad
Popovskiy, 32
Marif
Piraev, 31
Paddy
Pimblett, 29
Magomed
Saipulaev, 28
JAN. 4
Kimo
Leopoldo, 56
Vladimir
Matyushenko, 53
Shane
Carwin, 49
Donny
Walker, 44
Jose
Maria Tome, 42
Derek
Brunson, 40
Raphael
Butler, 40
Jin Suk
Jung, 40
Jung
Min Kang, 38
Warlley
Alves, 33
JAN. 5
Ruben
Villareal, 54
Mike
Bronzoulis, 45
John
Gunderson, 45
Kaline
Medeiros, 45
Trevor
Smith, 43
Takahiro
Suzuki, 37
Douglas
Lima, 36
Albert
Duraev, 35
Domingo
Pilarte, 34
Goiti
Yamauchi, 31
JAN. 6
Kevin
Rosier, (1962-2015)
Kenny
Garner, 49
Kalib
Starnes, 49
Riki
Fukuda, 43
Josh
Rafferty, 43
Johnny
Bedford, 41
Wilson
Reis, 39
Michelle
Waterson-Gomez, 38
Matheus
Nicolau, 31
Desmond
Torres, 27
JAN. 7
Donald
Brashear, 52
Christian
Colombo, 44
Maurice
Jackson, 43
Caros
Fodor, 40
Thiago
Santos, 40
Jianping
Yang, 38
Matt
Hobar, 37
Levan
Makashvili, 35
Jeff
Peterson, 34
Kaytlin
Neil, 32
JAN. 8
Tara
LaRosa, 46
Andre
Santos, 43
Ertan
Balaban, 41
Colin
Fletcher, 41
Lee
Chadwick, 39
Phil
Hawes, 35
Marcus
Almeida, 34
Michael
Graves, 33
Viacheslav
Borshchev, 32
Guram
Kutateladze, 32
JAN. 9
Pete
Spratt, 53
David
Terrell, 46
Adson
Lira Nascimento, 45
Jake
Shields, 45
Garreth
McLellan, 42
Danielle
Hindley, 40
Yoislandy
Izquierdo, 40
Rich
Lictawa, 36
Ode
Osbourne, 32
Aslan
Utegaliev, 27
JAN. 10
Yumiko
Hotta, 57
Mickey
Hughes, 45
Matt
Brown, 43
Vernon
Lewis, 40
Simon
Marini, 38
Ben
Neumann, 38
Magomed
Magomedkerimov, 34
Merab
Dvalishvili, 33
Serena
DeJesus, 32
Joshua
Pacio, 28
JAN. 11
Ivan
Salaverry, 53
Rebecca
Ruth, 45
Rafael
Cavalcante, 43
Muhammed
Lawal, 43
,
40
Terry Etim,
38
Peter
Sobotta, 37
Kurt
Kinser, 36
Anatoliy
Malykhin, 36
Artem
Reznikov, 32
JAN. 12
Ikuhisa
Minowa, 48
Frank
Carrillo, 40
Young
Bok Kil, 39
Angela
Hill, 36
Jingnan
Xiong, 36
Nate
Jennerman, 31
Brena
Soares Cardozo, 30
Carlos
Felipe, 29
Isis
Verbeek, 29
Arthur
Lima, 28
JAN. 13
George
Allen, 57
Leigh
Remedios, 48
Nick
Agallar, 45
Justin
Hawes, 45
Dennis
Siver, 45
Thomas
Schulte, 43
Joe
Schilling, 40
Derrick
Krantz, 36
Lucas
Almeida, 33
Monika
Chochlikova, 28
JAN. 14
Matt
Uhde, 50
Akbarh
Arreola, 41
Daniel
McWilliams, 41
Robert
Turnquest, 41
Matt
Riddle, 38
Kevin
Chung, 31
Said
Sowma, 31
Dricus Du
Plessis, 30
Dylan
Potter, 29
Denice
Zamboanga, 27
JAN. 15
Alexandre
Franca Nogueira, 46
Nobuhiro
Obiya, 43
Yuki
Nishigo, 39
Andrew
Craig, 38
Efrain
Escudero, 38
Joao
Zeferino, 38
Alexander
Gustafsson, 37
Matt
Schnell, 34
Michael
McDonald, 33
Zubaira
Tukhugov, 33
JAN. 16
Paul
Buentello, 50
Hyun
Gyu Lim, 39
Sai
Wang, 38
Mikhail
Mokhnatkin, 34
Juan
Adams, 32
Don'Tale
Mayes, 32
Genaro
Valdez, 32
Chris
Avila, 31
Caio
Borralho, 31
Luigi
Vendramini, 28
JAN. 17
Gary
Goodridge, 58
Ryan
McGivern, 44
Cole
Province, 43
Ariel
Sexton, 42
Tyler
Stinson, 38
Dusan
Dzakic, 37
Brian
Grinnell, 36
Alexander
Sarnavskiy, 35
Marthin
Hamlet, 32
Impa
Kasanganay, 30
JAN. 18
Dave
Bautista, 55
Neil
Grove, 53
Jeff
Monson, 53
Yoshikazu
Fujiishi, 46
Luis
Ramos, 43
Miguel
Torres>, 43
Diego
Ferreira, 39
A.J.
Dobson, 32
Marcin
Held, 32
Konklak
Suphisara, 28
JAN. 19
Aritano
Silva Barbosa, 45
Justin
Guthrie, 43
Joe
Cason, 36
Leandro
Higo, 35
Dustin
Poirier, 35
Anthony
Jimenez, 34
Timur
Valiev, 34
Steven
Graham, 33
Regivaldo
Carvalho, 30
Jordan
Lucas, 30
JAN. 20
Matt
Ewin, 54
Alexandre
Ribeiro, 43
Roy
Doliguez, 42
Micah
Terrill, 40
Donavon
Frelow, 39
Juan
Puerta, 36
Liudvik
Sholinian, 34
Alberth
Dias, 32
Erick
Gonzalez, 32
Su
Mudaerji, 28
JAN. 21
Demetrius
Richards, 49
Francisco
France, 41
Edson
Barboza, 38
Patricky
Freire, 38
Willie
Gates, 37
Tony
Kelley, 37
Matthew
Lopez, 37
Shane
Campbell, 36
Andre
Ewell, 36
Ilia
Topuria, 27
JAN. 22
Carlton
Haselrig, 1966-2020
Min Soo
Kim, 49
Jorge Antonio Cezario de Oliveira, 44
Luigi
Fioravanti, 43
Tomasz
Drwal, 42
Ji
Hoon
Kim, 42
Steve
Ramirez, 37
Daniel
Carey, 34
Mickey
Gall, 32
Arnold
Allen, 30
JAN. 23
Marco
Ruas, 63
Tito
Ortiz, 49
Cyrillo
Padilha Neto, 46
Rodolfo
Marques, 40
A.J.
Matthews, 36
Christos
Giagos, 34
Victor
Altamirano, 33
Justin
Wetzell, 32
Haobin
Ma, 30
Shamil
Akhmatkhanov, 28
JAN. 24
Akira
Maeda, 65
Lukasz
Chlewicki, 45
Jamall
Johnson, 42
Matt
Mazurek, 40
Jimmy
Spicuzza, 39
Gurdarshan
Mangat, 37
Westin
Wilson, 35
Oskar
Piechota, 34
Christian
Lohsen, 29
Sergey
Spivak, 29
JAN. 25
Ron van
Clief, 81
Jorge
Gurgel, 47
Paulo
Thiago, 43
Heather
Hardy, 42
Tor
Troeng, 41
John
Quinn, 41
Mike
Easton, 40
Dominique
Steele, 36
Nic
Herron-Webb, 34
Roberto
Soldic, 29
JAN. 26
Dan
Bobish, 54
Flavio Luiz
Moura, 48
Jared
Rollins, 47
Carmelo
Marrero, 43
Rafaello
Oliveira, 42
Olivia
Parker, 42
Justin
Edwards, 41
Chico
Camus, 39
Viktor
Nemkov, 37
Ariane
Lipski, 30
JAN. 27
Matt
Skelton, 57
Derrick
Ruffin, 53
Tony
Sylvester, 46
Klay
Konrad, 42
Anthony
Pettis, 37
Emmanuel
Walo, 37
Vinicius
de Jesus, 34
Koki
Naito, 34
Luis
Saldana, 33
Tatsuro
Taira, 24
JAN. 28
Claudio
Rocha, 46
Tim
Boetsch, 43
Cortez
Coleman, 42
Ashleigh
Grimshaw, 42
Jesse
Fujarczyk, 41
Mandy
Polk, 39
Brandon
Saling, 38
Melsik
Baghdasaryan, 32
Jaylon
Bates, 27
Ky
Bennett, 26
JAN. 29
Stephen
Palling, 57
Valid
Abdurachmanov, 52
Kazuyuki
Miyata, 48
Annalisa
Bucci, 41
Josh Tyler,
39
Rodolfo
Rubio, 37
Garrett
Mueller, 35
Daichi
Takenaka, 34
Nikolay
Aleksakhin, 34
Mallory
Martin, 30
JAN. 30
Takaku
Fuke, 55
Rob
Kimmons, 43
Bruno
Carvalho , 42
Jessica
Penne, 41
Junior dos
Santos, 40
Joshua
Montoya, 34
Ali
Motamed, 33
Daniel
Swain, 33
Alex
McGowan, 32
Magomed
Mamaev, 29
JAN. 31
Kristian
Rothaermel, 52
Akira
Shoji, 50
Kengo
Watanabe, 49
Maciej
Jewtuszko, 43
Shunichi
Shimizu, 39
Renan
Barao, 37
Kirill
Sukhomlinov, 36
Dhiego
Lima, 35
Kyle
Stewart, 35
Cesar
Arzamendia, 33