UFC
Junior dos Santos wants to break UFC records as Champ, says "let's do it" to Cain Velasquez rematch
May 29, 2012 - 10:35:25 PM

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

In the history of the UFC Heavyweight Championship, no fighter has defended the belt more than twice in a row, with Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, and Brock Lesnar tying for that mark.

After notching his first successful defense of the belt this past Saturday night at UFC 146, Junior dos Santos is hell-bent on beating that record.

"One more and I'll [tie] their record," dos Santos commented in an interview with Tatame.com. "I'll try to, God bless me. I want to hold this title for a long time and I will do it alright. I'm working hard."

First up to tie that record will likely be the man he took the title from, Cain Velasquez. For dos Santos, that's not a problem at all, and he's ready for whatever obstacle the UFC throws in front of him.

"Let's do it," he responded when asked about the Velasquez matchup. "I don't care who my next opponent is. It depends on UFC and, whoever it is, I'll be ready to do my best and keep this title for a long time."

The conversation turned to Alistair Overeem, as it often does with dos Santos these days, and he once again made his feelings on the potential for that bout clear.

"I don't think about fighting anybody," dos Santos said. "Overeem is paying the price to do drugs. If he keeps on doing it, I hope they keep him far away from me. If he stops doing it and come to fight a fair fight for us who don't use it, he will be welcomed. If UFC wants to match me up against him someday, I'll do my best to beat him."

Penick's Analysis: With big strikers swinging four ounce gloves in the heavyweight division, the reality is that anything can happen, and that has led to very few fighters having really long winning streaks in the division. Dos Santos has been the exception to this point, and there is no reason to believe he's going to be beaten anytime soon, but again, anything can, has, and will happen in the UFC's heavyweight division. If he can avoid the upsets, he may yet go down as the best Champ the UFC's seen at heavyweight. He's only got a short way to go to break that record, but he could definitely be the man to set an entirely new bar for heavyweights in the future.

[Junior dos Santos art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]