At UFC 146, former UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez made a huge statement when he defeated Antonio “Big Foot” Silva by TKO.
Velasquez, who lost the heavyweight title to Junior dos Santos in his last bout, was looking to prove to the world that the loss was a fluke.
While Velasquez has had many knockout victories in the past, none have looked as violent as the one against Silva.
After taking Silva down in the opening seconds of the bout, Velasquez put on a ground-and-pound clinic on Silva, leaving him a bloody mess.
With the win, there’s a strong possibility that Velasquez will get a rematch with Dos Santos.
Although the win against Silva was a brutal, one-sided affair, some people may believe that Velasquez is still one fight away from a rematch with Dos Santos.
Some may even believe that because their first bout only lasted 64 seconds, there is no way that Velasquez deserves a rematch this soon.
But who else stands as strong of a threat to Dos Santos?
Dos Santos has already defeated the likes of Frabricio Werdum, Roy Nelson and Stefan Struve.
Add Frank Mir to the list, and that takes away another top heavyweight.
Dos Santos has yet to meet Mark Hunt. Although Hunt is riding a three-fight winning streak and has great knockout power, the result could be the same as Dos Santos’ wins against Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin.
Dos Santos has also not faced Alistair Overeem. But with the former Strikeforce champ likely out the remainder of the year thanks to suspension, the UFC will be looking to fill the No. 1 contender’s spot sooner than later.
Another fighter that Dos Santos could face is the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix winner and Velasquez’s training partner, Daniel Cormier.
Cormier is a perfect 10-0 in his MMA career.
But after suffering a broken hand and being told he will fight once more in Strikeforce, and with Dana White wanting him to move down to light heavyweight, it’s unlikely that he will face Dos Santos anytime soon.
There may not be another heavyweight on the level that Dos Santos and Velasquez are on.
The problem that you have with two great fighters in the same weight class, though, is it’s easy for one to look mediocre against the other.
Velasquez proved that he was on another level last night, and he would love the chance to prove that he simply got caught in the first fight against Dos Santos.
Because of the bloody beat-down of Silva and being ahead of many other contenders, Velasquez may very well be on his way to a rematch with Dos Santos.
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