UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos has one warning for his upcoming opponent Cain Velaquez: take me down and you’ll get submitted.
The Brazilian, who is considered among the best boxers in MMA, was speaking to MMA Junkie when he spoke of his underrated ground game.
“I train a lot of jiu-jitsu, too, and I can tell you I’m ready to submit someone,” he said. “If the fight goes to the ground and I can’t come back to my feet, I’m going to be looking to submit him.”
Dos Santos is set to defend his belt for the second time against the man he defeated to become champion on December 29 at UFC 155.
Velasquez is an exceptionally gifted wrestler, an NCAA Division I All-American coached by Olympian Daniel Cormier, who possesses some of the most brutal ground-and-pound in the whole of MMA.
We last saw him in action against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in May, when he mauled his opponent for almost the entire first round—holding the 6’4”, 265 pound giant helplessly down on the canvas while raining down vicious elbows.
Dos Santos says he’s ready if Velasquez tries the same with him.
“Cain is a really good wrestler, and he’s got a good chance to take me down. If he takes me down and holds me there, then you guys will see my jiu-jitsu.”
Curiously, despite his solid wrestling base, Velasquez never attempted a takedown against Dos Santos in their short-lived first encounter. Deciding to “stand-and-bang” with the knockout specialist, it took his opponent less than a minute to strike him down to his knees where he was quickly finished off.
You’d hope for his sake that Velasquez will have learned something from that match and won’t stand in front of the Brazilian this time, instead taking the fight to the ground where Dos Santos promises to be more ready than ever.
UFC 155 takes place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook.
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