Eagle FC 47: Hector Lombard, Junior Dos Santos Make Their Return

This will be Eagle FC"s third show in the United States, as they descend upon the FLXcast Arena in Miami.

Dos Santos will make his Eagle FC debut in the main event across from former UFC Heavyweight Yorgan De Castro. De Castro is on a two-fight winning streak since his exit from the UFC, including a submission win in his Eagle FC debut. Dos Santos, of course, is widely considered one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, and has been part of some of some the biggest heavyweight matchups ever made.

He left the UFC somewhat unceremoniously following a four-fight losing streak to four of the best heavyweights in the world in Francis N"Gannou, Curtis Blaydes, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and Ciryl Gane. His last victory came in 2019 by TKO over Derrick Lewis. JDS still holds victories over four heavyweights ranked in the UFC"s top 15; Blagoy Ivanov, Derrick Lewis, Tai Tuivasa and Stipe Miocic.

Dos Santos was scheduled to fight in a boxing match in February of this year for Triller"s Triad Combat, but the event was ultimately scrapped.

Eagle FC appears to be making a concerted effort to build a strong fanbase in the US. The name recognition combined with the immense respect that MMA fans have for Dos Santos, it would appear that with a great performance he, could absolutely find himself fighting for the Eagle FC Heavyweight Title in the very near future.

Hector Lombard Could Add Another Championship to His Resume Under the Eagle FC Banner

In the Co-Main Event, former Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard will make his first walk to an MMA fight since 2018. He will stand across a former training partner, Thiago Santos, in what is both men"s Eagle FC debut. Santos, also a former fighter in the UFC, has bounced around between several promotions as well as a kickboxing fight in Glory since his last UFC Fight in 2013.

Since 2018, Lombard has fought four times in Bare Knuckle Boxing, where he saw some success with a three-fight win streak before dropping a decision to Lorenzo Hunt in November of 2021. In 2012, he vacated his Bellator Middleweight Belt to fight in the UFC and was unable to replicate the same level of success.

He went 3-9-1 in the UFC, and despite his career often being looked at as one of the bigger let-downs in UFC History, he fought a murderers" row of middleweights and welterweights with wins over Rousimar Palhares, Nate Marquardt and Jake Shields. His losses came against names such as Yushin Okami, Dan Henderson and Johnny Hendricks.

On Friday, Lombard will be fighting at Light Heavyweight where Eagle FC has a vacant title. He is always in impeccable fighting shape and at 44-years-old, Lombard could find himself with a clear path to one more belt before retirement.

Multiple Fighters Make Their Eagle FC Debut on Friday

Also featured on this card, winner of season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter, former UFC Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Andrew Sanchez will face off against Gabriel Checco in a Light Heavyweight bout. Sanchez had an up and down stint in the UFC, but holds wins over both Phil Hawes and Khalil Rountree. This will be his first fight post-UFC.

Lightweight prospect Islam Mamedov also fights on this card, making his Eagle FC debut. He fought in the World Series of Fighting Lightweight Tournament, then in the Professional Fighters League"s 2018 and 2019 Lightweight seasons. He has since made a short stint in Bellator, where he defeated former Bellator Lightweight Champion Brent Primus by split decision before taking his first loss since 2009 to Benson Henderson by split decision.

Eagle FC 47: Redemption goes down on Friday, May 20 with both veterans and prospects alike all throughout the card as Eagle FC continues to stake their claim in the U.S. MMA market.

Featured image credit to Eagle FC