Rising star, Junior Dos Santos (9-1) will be having another tough test in his young UFC career as he faces former number one contender, and fellow Cro Cop conqueror, Gabriel Gonzaga (11-4). He talked to sherdog about the match up:

I had the opportunity to meet big names in MMA in the UFC and will do so once again. Gonzaga is a very tough fighter, and, besides being a great heavyweight, he’s developed his technique. I don’t know if it will be my biggest challenge, but it will certainly be one of them.

He’s a complete fighter and very tough. He even fought for the title. I believe that his main intention is to try and take the fight to the ground. But surely there will be some striking between us.

The fitness in MMA, in my opinion, is the main aspect you need to have good results. I’ll be ready to fight three rounds with him. If he happens to get tired, I hope to make the best use of it.

This next fight, there are going to be a lot of chances to go to the ground. I train a lot of boxing and I like the striking, but it’s not any different with the jiu-jitsu, wrestling and muay Thai. I practice these arts very well. I know that Gonzaga is a black belt in jiu-jitsu and very good at what he does, but I’m training with the best ground fighter in MMA -- Minotauro. Believe me, I’ll be ready if the fight takes place on the ground.

When asked about challenging for the belt if he wins against Gabriel Gonzaga:

As I said at other times, I’m in no hurry to challenge for the belt, but if the UFC thinks I should, for sure, I’ll be ready. I say this, of course, only if "Minotauro" is not the champion, but I believe that will happen soon.