UFC 131 Junior dos Santos vs Shane Carwin: Is JDS the next UFC Champion
Bleacher Report’s Sal DeRose:
At UFC 131, Junior dos Santos is set to face Shane Carwin in a heavyweight bout that will determine the No. 1 contender for the UFC heavyweight title.
Cain Velasquez awaits the two fighters and is a tough test for either one of them. At the age of 26, is Junior dos Santos destined to overtake Velasquez or eventually take over the UFC throne?
Dos Santos has come into the UFC and picked apart each fighter he has faced with his devastating striking ability, beating the likes of Roy Nelson, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Gabriel Gonzaga and Fabricio Werdum.
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The brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, dos Santos has yet to showcase his ground game and it could be his one key weakness in his game. But who knows how good he really is on the ground? Yes, we haven’t seen it yet, but it could be great for all we know. It could also be very bad.
Dos Santos, though, has made it this far with his striking, and for a heavyweight, is a very athletic fighter.
Eventually I see dos Santos as a champion, and he could be the best threat to Velasquez’s throne. If we knew what dos Santos’ ground game looked like, I could say how good of a chance he has. But, if the fight stays standing I think he has the ability to beat the likes of Velasquez.
Since we don’t know about his ground game, though, I think Velasquez could use his All-American wrestling to control dos Santos on the ground and win a decision victory, or get into full mount and ground-and-pound dos Santos.