In another five rounds of the same, CainVelasquez defeated Junior dos Santos to retain his UFC HeavyweightChampionship on Saturday. The fight never seemed to really get totally going todos Santos as the champion swarmed him, rarely backing up to allowhim a chance to throw the single blow that could win the fight.
The fight finished with only 1:54 leftin the 5th round, and dos Santos attempted a choke submissionwhich the champion rolled out of, resulting in a bloodied andbattered Junior dos Santos being spiked head first into the ground andno longer being able to continue.
After a tense moment in the center ofthe Octagon when dos Santos came to the center during hisannouncement and was met by the champion, the first round startedwith the champion closing the distance on dos Santos, pressing himagainst the cage and starting his grind. A fresh dos Santos was ableto create some distance and threw some big shots that allowed fightfans to see the head movement that the champion has been developing.
Throughout the fight, dos Santos wasable to land some nice short elbows while being clinched against thecage. With 2:15 left in the third round, Velasquez was able to clipdos Santos with a big single shot overhand right that clipped thechallenger right above his left ear. Velasquez swarmed, droppingshots and then attempted chokes on two separate occasions that mayhave saved dos Santos. It seemed as though Velasquez may have beenable to finish the fight there against any other opponent.
While the champion ground his opponenteither into the cage or worked his opponent onto the ground, we sawthe typical Velasquez functionality of those strategies with acombination of big bomb from his left and right hands and kneessliding up through the middle, all causing problems for dos Santos.
The question then becomes who can beatCain Velasquez. With Cormier’s win, the new No. 1 contender isprobably not known by the organization, but we will keep you updated.