UFC 155 Results: Fighters React to Dos Santos vs. Velasquez Fight Card

The UFC heavyweight title is back in the hands of the baddest man on the planet, Cain Velasquez, after his dominant victory over Junior dos Santos at UFC 155. The former champion earned even more respect than he had before from his fans and experts, bu…

The UFC heavyweight title is back in the hands of the baddest man on the planet, Cain Velasquez, after his dominant victory over Junior dos Santos at UFC 155. The former champion earned even more respect than he had before from his fans and experts, but it’s the approval from his fellow fighters that likely means the most to him.

Twitter has become the place that the world goes to discuss fights live and UFC 155 was no exception. The Twittersphere was on fire on Saturday night, particularly with fighters who all seemed to be tuning into perhaps the biggest fight of the year.

The following Tweets came from fighters (and prominent UFC personalities) during the main card for the UFC 155: dos Santos vs. Velasquez fight card.

Derek Brunson vs. Chris Leben

We got started with Derek Brunson vs. Chris Leben in what turned out to be a lackluster bout. Twitter was fairly quiet during this one, at least from fighters who generally don’t like to bash one another for having “boring” fights.

Brunson showed his happiness in the cage immediately after the fight when he screamed out in happiness. He later got on his phone to let everyone know who he thanks for the victory.

UFC President Dana White was not quite as happy, however.

Alan Belcher vs. Yushin Okami

Up next was Alan Belcher, who had been on a four-fight winning streak as he battled perennial top UFC middleweight contender Yushin Okami.

Belcher put up a valiant effort, even dropping Okami numerous times. But in the end, it was Okami’s frustratingly strong grappling that was able to contain Belcher and earn him the win.

UFC announcer and former multi-divisional contender Kenny Florian was impressed with both fighters.

The legendary Bas Rutten agreed, noting that it was the Japanese star’s ever-improving wrestling that secured the win.

Costa Philippou vs. Tim Boetsch

The third fight on the card was one that featured one of the fastest-growing fighters in terms of popularity, Tim Boetsch, as he looked to increase his undefeated streak at middleweight to five wins against Costa Philippou.

Former UFC middleweight Jorge Rivera gave a quick breakdown on the bout before it started, explaining what Costa would need to win.

Boetsch appeared to break his hand early in the fight, which cost him dearly as Philippou systematically broke him apart throughout the contest.

Top Strikeforce and Invicta FC female contender Sarah Kaufmann believed the fight was close going into the third round, but didn’t think one of the fighters was ready to continue.

Philippou eventually earned a TKO victory.

Jorge Rivera’s former rival and current top UFC contender Michael Bisping apparently made a bet with a fan in attendance who was confident that Boetsch would win. The fan put his money where his mouth is but ended up handing over a $20 bill to the Brit.

Joe Lauzon vs. Jim Miller

The co-main event included two of the UFC’s most exciting lightweights as Jim Miller battled Joe Lauzon in a bout that could vault the winner very close to a title fight in 2013.

English fighter John Maguire echoed the thoughts of many fans who were excited for this one.

Mike Swick concurred.

Jim Miller started the fight out with a ferocious pace, attacking Lauzon with a barrage of strikes, including a short elbow against the cage that opened up Lauzon’s forehead.

As blood poured down Lauzon’s face, he began to look less like a UFC fighter and more like a Halloween mask. The hard-hitting Bart Palaszewski was even shocked at the amount of blood Lauzon was losing.

UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste looked away in horror.

Top UFC flyweight contender John Dodson even joked about the amount of blood that had made its way onto the top of Lauzon’s head, turning his hair a bright shade of red.

Lauzon battled back, however, and gave the fans the type of performance that only he can give in the cage. Wearing a crimson mask for about 13 minutes of the 15-minute bout, Lauzon made it close enough on the scorecards that Jon Fitch couldn’t call a winner.

The exciting bout was universally loved on Twitter, with most agreeing that even with the main event remaining, the “Fight of the Night” bonus should be awarded to Miller and Lauzon.

Brad Tavares and others were right as the fight was later officially given the reward and accompanying bonuses. This fight night bonus now gives Joe Lauzon the UFC record for most fight night bonuses achieved by a fighter in the history of the company as he surpassed Anderson Silva.

Velasquez vs. dos Santos

The main event had finally arrived and Twitter was buzzing from the amazing co-main event as we prepared to head into the UFC heavyweight title fight. Predictions flooded in at this moment, and there were a few notable prognostications including former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz.

Velasquez’s teammate Ryan Bader showed his support from afar.

The fight began and the chess game that was the standup battle between these two got underway. That didn’t last long, though, as Velasquez shot in, obviously wary of dos Santos’ power after being knocked out the last time he fought the champ.

As Velasquez began to pull away with his wrestling and surprising dominance in the striking game, Twitter began to turn from the expectation that this would be a close fight to the sudden realization that we were looking at a new champion.

Pat Barry, who is known for having some of the most epic slugfests in UFC history, has been talking about how great Velasquez is for some time, but he knows better than anyone that fights can change in the blink of an eye.

With only moments left in the bout, dos Santos’ face looked like it had been stung by hundreds of bees at once. Former Strikeforce champion and current UFC top contender Alistair Overeem took to Twitter to talk a little smack about the fighter who had been placed above him on the MMA rankings for the past few months.

Overeem will fight Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 156. If he is able to win that bout, Overeem is expected to get his chance against Cain Velasquez, who on Saturday night became the new UFC heavyweight champion.

Although Velasquez won the fight with a combination of his skills, it was really his advantage in one area that stood out the most. Two of the best MMA fighters in that area were quick to give props to their fellow fighter.

 

 

— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) December 30, 2012

With that, a fun night of fights had come to a climactic end. A new champion has been crowned and we move onward and upward to 2013! 

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