UFC 131 Is Going To Be Junior Dos Santos’s Stage To Shine On, But Will A Win Really Mean That Much?
Junior dos Santos earned a UFC heavyweight championship match with his performance against Roy Nelson at UFC 117 last August. He has been one of the best heavyweight fighters in mixed martial arts for some time, and now he was going to get his shot at the belt. But at UFC 131, he is going against Shane Carwin who will not be at the top of his game due to a serious neck injury that required surgery late last year.
Dos Santos was originally supposed to go up against Brock Lesnar, but Lesnar had to pull out when his diverticulitis returned. That would have been a much better fight for dos Santos to show what he is capable of doing against an elite heavyweight.
Carwin was an elite heavyweight before his surgery, but we have no idea what kind of shape he is going to be in. So what does a win over Carwin really tell us about dos Santos?
I don’t think that it will tell us much. Carwin is a big name, which will look good on the resume, but it doesn’t give us a strong indication of how prepared he is for Velasquez.
I could be wrong. Carwin could come out and look like a world-beater in the first-round of this fight. If that turns out to be the case, this fight would turn into a heavyweight war. But there are too many questions.
Dos Santos is not only supposed to win this fight, but he is supposed to dominate. If he does, well that’s what he was supposed to do. If he doesn’t, people will question his ability to challenge the top heavyweight fighter in the world.
There is a lot more at stake in this fight for Dos Santos than Carwin. I see dos Santos winning via knockout early. It will look good, but it won’t have the same impact as him knocking out Lesnar.