UFC 131 Junior Dos Santos: "I Know I Can Beat Brock"

No one's doubting Junior dos Santos' ability going into his UFC 131 matchup with former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.

In fact, some may say that he is the favorite going into the fight that will determine the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 13 coaches battle.

Dos Santos was set to face Cain Velasquez for the heavyweight title, but Velasquez's rotator cuff surgery sidetracked any notion or any shot at a title for dos Santos until the champion is healthy. Instead of sitting around and waiting for Velasquez to heal, dos Santos did the next best thing—he took another fight.

"It was a little bit of a surprise for me," Dos Santos recently told MMA Junkie Radio. "When my manager told me Cain Velasquez couldn't the fight against me, I asked for another fight. The UFC invited me to coach 'TUF,' and I accepted right away."

Some may say it's dumb of dos Santos to take another fight. Others think it's smart, staving off any ring rust and potentially notching another top-notch win to his resume should he beat Lesnar.

Either way, dos Santos is happy about his June 11th bout with Lesnar.

"When they give me that fight against Brock Lesnar, I was happy," said dos Santos. "Because, I'm a fighter, and I fight. That's what I do to live, and I needed to fight, so it doesn't matter who's going to be my opponent. I'm ready to fight right now, and I'm ready to fight always."

A lot of people are asking the two fighters how much they saw and learned about each other during their time on TUF, but dos Santos admits he rarely saw his UFC 131 opponent.

"I didn't see Brock a lot in the house, just sometimes," dos Santos said. "He's a very serious guy, and I don't care about that now. What matters for me now is to beat him. I'm training hard, and all the guys in the UFC, they used to say I'm a nice guy.

"But the people have confused me being nice with being weak because I believe so much in me."

Dos Santos is going into his UFC 131 bout confident as ever, ready to use his deadly striking against the likes of Lesnar.

"I know I can beat Brock, and I will be the next [UFC] heavyweight champion."