Junior dos Santos Hopeful of Making First Title Defense in Brazil

After earning the biggest win of his career over Cain Velasquez earlier this year at UFC on FOX 1, newly-crowned UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos is eagerly anticipating his next challenger. 

The winner of the upcoming headliner between Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 will meet the champion in a title bout next year while he recovers from knee surgery. 

The 27-year-old has aspirations of defending the heavyweight crown in front of his home country, and he is hoping to do it in his first title defense against either Lesnar or Overeem.

"I really want to fight in Brazil," dos Santos told TATAME.com. "There’ll be many events in Brazil, like Dana (White) said himself. So I want my first title defense to be in Brazil.”

The company will make its second trip back to Brazil early next year to host UFC 142 when countryman Jose Aldo defends his UFC featherweight title against Chad Mendes. Also on the card is a middleweight bout between Vitor Belfort and Anthony "Rumble" Johnson.

With South America currently on the radar, the UFC intends on visiting Brazil as much as possible next year. With UFC 142 already planned for January 16, the company is rumored to return by mid-next year, likely in June. 

And with a potential event on the horizon, dos Santos, who reflected on his recent victory over Velasquez, sees himself being involved.

"When I punched him, I saw him going down and I could tell it was easy for me to knock him out and, even before the referee stopped the contest, I could feel that thrill,” he said. "I can’t really explain the way I feel. I’m really happy. It’s an incredible feeling."