UFC Minneapolis | Dan Lambert believes no one should count out Junior dos Santos against Francis Ngannou

Junior dos Santos is set to take on Francis Ngannou in the main event of UFC Minneapolis. The expectation is that the winner will fight for the heavyweight title next.

According to American Top Team owner, Dan Lambert, this is a tough fight for dos Santos, but he says no one should count out the former heavyweight champion.

“Well, there’s no doubting Ngannou is one of the scariest individuals I or anybody else has ever seen. I mean, that guy is absolutely frightening. With that said, he’s come out and put on a stinker or two in the past,” Lambert said of Junior dos Santos on BJPENN.com Radio. “So, he may not be the most consistent guy in the world. JDS is very technical, he’s very skilled. He still hits really hard, he’s got a ton of experience, he’s a smart fighter. I would not count JDS out in this fight by any stretch of the imagination.”

Does the Junior dos Santos vs. Francis Ngannou winner get a title shot?

The fight is also an important one for ATT. If Junior dos Santos can get past Francis Ngannou, Dan Lambert believes there is no question that Junior dos Santos will get to fight for the title next. Especially given the fact that Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier are set to fight in August, so the timelines match up.

“As far as title implications, if he wins, if not him than who? I don’t know who else would leapfrog him,” Lambert said. “If he were to win that, when you look at the heavyweight rankings, and with DC fighting Stipe, there’s a lot of rumors that it may be DC’s last fight, win or lose. I mean, you could have a vacated title, I don’t know what they would do in that instance, if they would just pick two guys, if they would do a little mini-tournament, I’m not sure. Outside of it being a really close fight where Stipe wins a split decision and DC says, ‘Screw it, I’m coming back to win my belt, at which time they would probably run that again, I can’t see JDS not getting a title shot coming off a win over Ngannou.”

This fight is a crucial one for both Junior dos Santos and Francis Ngannou’s careers and it all plays out on Saturday.

Do you agree with Dan Lambert that the winner of Junior dos Santos vs. Francis Ngannou gets the next title shot?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 6/28/2019.