With the UFC Heavyweight Title on the line, Cain Velasquez (11-1) wasted no time in absolutely destroying Junior dos Santos (15-2) to reclaim the belt he lost to the Brazilian in November of last year.
Velasquez stayed on the offensive for nearly the entire match, starting with an opening salvo that stunned his opponent and left him reeling for the remainder of the bout.
When it was all said and done, the judges unanimously (50-45, 50-44 and 50-43) elected to award the California-native the title for his strong effort as the clear-cut victor.
When Dos Santos—who was able to KO a hobbled Velasquez via punches in 64 seconds during their initial UFC on FOX showdown—was asked about why he lost, the fighter was surprisingly candid and honest.
According to the staff at CBSSports.com, he had this to say:
“His [Velasquez’s] game was very effective, and tonight he was better than me,” Dos Santos said. “It’s not usual for me to take a punch, but he walks forward all the time. His takedowns, his grappler game is very effective, so congratulations for him.”
Cigano gave it his all, but he simply didn’t have the motivation or form to overcome an angry Velasquez hell-bent on avenging the only loss of his illustrious career.
Because the fight was so one-sided, Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports found that UFC president Dana White isn’t considering a rematch between the two anytime soon, and Velasquez should expect to face a new challenger for his title in his first defense.
Iole noted that Alistair Overeem, Daniel Cormier or Fabricio Werdum are three likely candidates, but nothing is set in stone at this juncture.
It’ll be interesting to see who emerges to challenge Velasquez first, but we’d feel comfortable betting that, this time, the 30-year-old holds onto his title longer than he did during his first reign as the heavyweight champ.
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