(Take another look at the moment in round 3 when Herb Dean “almost stopped the fight.” It turns out he was just trying to yank Cain’s right hand off the fence. Good work, Herb. The fans paid for a five-round beating, and they deserve to get their money’s worth. / Props: Reddit_MMA)
The heavyweight war between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos at UFC 166 already feels like ancient history, but there are a bunch of related news items popping up this week that you should still be aware of. So let’s dump ‘em, shall we?
– UFC 166 medical suspensions are out, and JDS is suspended indefinitely pending clearance from an ear, nose and throat doctor. (Shawn Jordan and Tim Boetsch were also given indefinite suspensions due to the damage they took in their fights.) Velasquez is medically suspended through April 18th due to a possibly broken jaw, though he could return earlier pending clearance from a doctor.
– When Dos Santos was taken to the hospital after the event, the Brazilian striker admitted that he did not remember much of the fight, and was under the impression that he had been KO’d in the second round. Dos Santos also did not remember doing a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan after the match, which partially excuses how snippy he got with Joe in the beginning. (“He’s a true champion so I’m not?”)
– Despite the savage whooping that Dos Santos received at the hands of Velasquez, Cigano’s cornermen never considered throwing in the towel. As his jiu-jitsu coach Yuri Carlton explained:
“I was hoping for the knockout all the time. In the fifth round, ‘Cigano’ went for that choke. Anything can happen. We see a guy lose the whole fight and then win in the last round. It happens all the time. We’re not impressed by blood or anything like that, neither is ‘Cigano’. He always fights for the win, no matter what…We hoped he could land a good punch even if he was completely tired, but it didn’t happen…After the second round, he was fighting in the autopilot mode but he didn’t tell me he thought he lost in the second round. But that’s normal. Sometimes you go out with a punch or a good elbow but keep fighting automatically. That’s normal.”
It’s crazy what we accept as “normal” in this sport. Personally, I’d like to see a fighter’s team show a little more concern about the kind of sustained head-trauma that will haunt an athlete later in his life.
– And finally, here’s the GIF of the the damage that Junior’s face sported in each round, via 8BitSports. Maybe it’s not as nasty as the original, but it’s still pretty horrific. It kind of looks like Dos Santos’s hairline is receding in terror as the fight goes on.
