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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Heading into the Junior dos Santos-Cain Velasquez rematch at UFC 155, one of the key storylines was just how much stock to put into their first bout at UFC on Fox 1 last year. Both fighters had come into that bout with injuries which affected not only their preparation, but their respective game plans and performances as well.
Dos Santos was more aggressive than usual because he knew his cardio was going to be an issue, and Velasquez's knee injury affected his confidence in his takedowns and his willingness to go after them effectively early. All of that seemed to play into dos Santos catching Velasquez behind the ear and stopping the fight just 64 seconds in, and Velasquez wanted to prove that, despite that quick finish, he was still the better fighter.
As it turns out, that first fight truly may have been a fluke, as Velasquez completely dominated dos Santos in their rematch on Saturday night to take back his title. Not to take anything away from dos Santos, because it's possible with a different approach that he could defeat Velasquez in their inevitable rubber match. That said, the Velasquez who destroyed dos Santos in the first two rounds at UFC 155 was a very different fighter from the one who got beat in 64 seconds.
Velasquez came out Saturday night much more aggressively than he did in the first fight. That aggression was actually one of the biggest differences between the two fights, and it effectively threw dos Santos off his rhythm. He was having trouble setting his feet and landing strikes, and though he was defending the takedown quite well early, he wasn't able to get in his strikes effectively.
It also had him backing up more than in the first fight, with Velasquez pressing the striking attack and avoiding the big power strikes. As dos Santos continued to get backed up, he also made the decision to drop his hands. He was enticing Velasquez in, presumedly to try countering Velasquez's striking attack. Unfortunately for him, he was assuming he could take the strikes from Velasquez in that moment, and that turned out to be a very wrong assumption.
Velasquez had a free opening to land the overhand right that knocked dos Santos down, and from there on out dos Santos couldn't recover.
The superior cardio Velasquez brought into the cage played out this time around. He was beginning to wear the now former-Champ down with his pace early on, but the knock down took away anything that dos Santos had to offer. He could no longer stop the takedown, and it led to seven minutes of absolute domination from Velasquez, leading to two 10-8 rounds for Velasquez to kick off the fight.
It wasn't a pace he could keep up for five rounds, of course, but the damage had been done. Dos Santos recovered, but not enough to do much more than defend in the clinch and avoid the same level of beating he took in the first two rounds. It ultimately ended with Velasquez's hand raised and the belt once again around his waist. It was the exact statement he wanted to make, and he's now standing atop the UFC's heavyweight division again.
Saturday's result means the two will fight a third time down the line. Dos Santos remains the second best heavyweight in the world, and after a win or two the UFC will bring them together again. But at UFC 155, Velasquez proved that their first fight wasn't a defining moment for him, and he made his case that he not only deserved this rematch, but that he is and has been the best heavyweight in the world.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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