UFC
Cain Velasquez not surprised by Junior Dos Santos' UFC 131 victory over Shane Carwin
Jun 14, 2011 - 9:15:11 AM Cain Velasquez not surprised by Junior Dos Santos' UFC 131 victory over Shane Carwin

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC Heavyweight Champ Cain Velasquez watched last Saturday's UFC 131 main event between Junior Dos Santos and Shane Carwin closely from cageside, knowing he'd be facing the winner later this year.

Dos Santos handily defeated Carwin, bloodying and battering him throughout the 15-minute fight and nearly stopping it in the first round, and it's a result that didn't surprise Velasquez in the least.

"He fulfilled all those [expectations]," Velasquez said in an interview with ESPN. "I just thought Carwin was going to be too slow for him and not really have the stand-up skills and it turned out that way. With him being that much quicker than [Carwin], he was able to do what he wanted. He was able to not get hit and do damage... I kind of saw that [coming]."

Though the end result wasn't surprising to him, his cageside seat still gave him some things in Dos Santos' performance he feels he can take advantage of when they fight this fall.

"[Carwin] just took that one shot and stayed with it," he said. "Then when he did take [Dos Santos] down, he didn't really scramble to [improve] his position right away, which you have to do against someone like Dos Santos because he moves a lot once he gets taken down. That's something that I saw that I really think I can take to my training camp and make beneficial for me."

Velasquez hopes to be cleared by his doctors soon to return to full training. If he can be cleared in short order, he can get back to preparation for the fight, which could hopefully take place as soon as October. But even if the fight gets pushed back a little further, Velasquez's up close look at Dos Santos gave him a good look at his next challenger, and he'll be taking that with him into this fight.

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Penick's Analysis: Velasquez basically called it last week, feeling Dos Santos' speed and technical striking was going to be the difference in the fight, and that's precisely what happened. Velasquez understands what he's up against in Dos Santos, and though Dos Santos threw in a couple of third round takedowns to show a new wrinkle to his game, he still presents the same problems to Velasquez that he did when they were originally penciled in for a fight this spring. It's still a fantastic title fight, and hopefully Velasquez is back to full training in short order to bring this fight to the fans as soon as possible.