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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Cain Velasquez stepped back into the Octagon on Saturday night for the first time since losing the UFC Heavyweight Championship last November. The loss to Junior dos Santos was the first time he had ever tasted defeat, but he responded in a huge way against Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva at UFC 146.
Velasquez attempted to erase the memory of his November loss to dos Santos, and he took the fight with Silva to the ground almost immediately. From there, he began administering what would be an extended beating in a fight that would only last three and a half minutes.
He opened up a vicious cut between Silva's eyes that bled profusely, giving Silva issues seeing and leaving the mat an absolute bloody mess. After a brief pause in the action to check the cut, the fight continued, with Velasquez turning up the volume on the attack.
Velasquez landed punches, then added in elbows and forearms until finally rocking Silva, forcing him to cover up. From there, he unleashed hell until referee Josh Rosenthal called a stop to the bout.
The former Champ is now likely to fight for the title again later this fall, giving him a chance to regain the belt he wasn't able to defend against dos Santos.
Penick's Analysis: That was just a completely superb performance, and may have been his best ever. He was every bit the better fighter on Saturday, and he was relentless with his attack on the ground. It was legitimately the type of the performance that points to his November showing as a bit of a fluke. Not that dos Santos couldn't or wouldn't win a rematch, but Velasquez at least gave reason to believe he's a much better fighter than he showed against JDS last year.
[Cain Velasquez art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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