Canada's Dustin Joynson (6-1) is set to step back into the ONE Championship cage on Feb. 11, facing Brazil's Hugo Cunha (6-0) at ONE Bad Blood in a heavyweight matchup.
The 36-year-old Joynson made his highly anticipated ONE Championship debut in November, suffering a competitive unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Kiryl Grischenko. Despite the judges' cards favoring Grischenko, Joynson brought increased pressure in the final round, even stunning the imposing Belarusian. Joynson believes one additional round would have sealed the victory over Grischenko.
"If I would've had one more round, I would've beaten him. I know I would've beaten him in that fight. He was fading pretty hard," Joynson told MMA Empire in an exclusive interview.
Joynson is now chasing his maiden ONE Championship triumph against Cunha. He's also rooting for his previous opponent Grishcenko to claim victory that same evening, as Grishcenko will challenge for the interim ONE heavyweight title against the unbeaten Russian giant Anatoly Malykhin.
If both Joynson and Grishcenko emerge victorious on fight night, it could pave the way for a championship rematch between Joynson and Grishcenko for the ONE heavyweight crown.
