Filed under: UFC
In a one-sided beatdown of a main event, Junior dos Santos battered Shane Carwin for 15 minutes on his way to a dominant unanimous decision victory at UFC 131.
Dos Santos showed that he’s the hardest-hitting heavyweight in MMA, winning a fight that the judges scored 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26. He will now get a shot at UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, whenever Velasquez is healed from the shoulder injury that has sidelined him for the last eight months.
“That’s awesome,” dos Santos said of the title shot. “Much respect for Cain Velasquez, but Cain, I’m coming for you.”
Carwin shot in for a single-leg takedown in the early going, but dos Santos was able to avoid it by keeping his back against the cage. From there it was an exchange of punches, with both men looking tentative and hesitant to risk getting hit by the other. Dos Santos was landing some jabs, and Carwin was mostly missing. Eventually dos Santos started to land more frequently, and finally he knocked Carwin down and went to town, landing punch after punch after punch on the ground and turning Carwin’s face into a bloody mess. It was surprising that Carwin even surprised the first round.
In the second round Carwin showed a lot of heart just to keep fighting, and he actually landed a very hard left hand at one point, plus a couple of leg kicks: Carwin wasn’t going down without a fight. But dos Santos was still doing more damage, landing jabs and even a head kick. The second round wasn’t dominant like the first, but it was another round that dos Santos won.
At the start of the third Carwin went for a takedown and got it, but he wasn’t able to hold dos Santos down. Once they got back to their feet dos Santos was in control again, repeatedly landing his jabs as Carwin was too slow to land much of his own. With a minute left in the third referee Herb Dean called a pause to the fight to ask the ringside doctor to check the cuts on Carwin’s face, and although the doctor said Carwin could keep fighting, it was clear that he didn’t have a chance to win. Dos Santos took Carwin down twice in the final minute and easily won.
Velasquez stepped into the Octagon afterward and said he looked forward to the opportunity to fight dos Santos. That fight will be great: Dos Santos showed in beating Carwin that he’s a force to be reckoned with.