It took just 64 seconds for Cain Velasquez to lose his UFC heavyweight title last night at the inaugural UFC on FOX main event.
Everyone who has followed Junior Dos Santos’ career knew that all it would take is one solid punch for him to steal Velasquez’s belt away, and Dos Santos waited little time on landing the aforementioned shot, dropping Cain with a hard right hand and following up with some ground and pound to earn his first UFC championship.
The loss is obviously a setback for Velasquez, who was undefeated going into the fight, but just how badly did the loss hurt the former champion?
Honestly, not as bad as one might think.
The heavyweight division, while stronger than it has ever been, is still one of the weakest divisions in the UFC and a loss is only going to knock a marketable fighter like Velasquez just one or two fights back from another shot at regaining his belt.
After losing to Dos Santos, Velasquez should still be considered the second best fighter in the division, at least until a winner is decided between Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 in December.
While Overeem will have earned his spot as the second best heavyweight in the world if he defeats Lesnar, the same cannot be said for Brock, who has not won since being bested by Velasquez at UFC 121 last October.
While the loss may seem like the end of the world for Velasquez and his fans at the moment, the big picture shows that it is just a minor setback and that he is still just a win or two away from getting another shot at Dos Santos and winning back his claim as the top heavyweight in the sport.
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