It would be the first defeat of his pro-mma career, former UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez (9-1) would suffer a knockout loss to challenger Junior dos Santos on Saturday night (Nov. 12, 2011).
The two met in the main event of UFC on FOX at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Dos Santos would score a quick first round finish, KOing Velasquez at 1:04 of the first round.
Speaking after the fight to color commentator Joe Rogan, Velasquez vowed to return and regain his championship.
“I want to say sorry to all the fans, friends and family. I disappointed you. I’m worth much more than this. I will come back. And I will get this belt back, for sure. He kind of messed up my equilibrium. It was a good shot. He has a lot of power. I waited too much for him. He went in and did what he was supposed to do, so my hats off to him tonight.”
Velasquez captured the belt just over a year ago, stopping former champ Brock Lesnar by TKO in the first round of their UFC 121 fight. Velasquez would suffer a shoulder injury in the bout, which would force him to undergo surgery putting him out for most of the year.
During the post fight press conference, White was unclear what the next move was for Velasquez noting that they would have to wait for the former champ to recover from this fight before making a decision.