In the UFC’s anticipated debut on FOX, it didn’t take long for the inaugural fight to end.
Junior dos Santos won the UFC Heavyweight Championship in a little over a minute as he knocked out the champion, Cain Velasquez from the Honda Center in Anaheim.
Dos Santos came into the fight as the betting underdog, but a devastating right hand early in the first round caught the champion in the ear and sent him crashing.
With Velasquez’ equilibrium admittedly thrown off, dos Santos was able to finish the fight with a series of ground-and-pound strikes that left Velasquez face down in the octagon.
The Brazilian exploded with joy as he becomes the third Brazilian to hold a UFC title, joining middleweight champ Anderson Silva and featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo.
In the night’s co-main event, Ben Henderson earned a lightweight title shot against Frankie Edgar with his unanimous decision win over Clay Guida.
The contest was very competitive and neither man seemed to have an obvious superiority over the other, but Henderson was able to gain more dominant positions than Guida and he also exhibited more control during the fight.
For complete UFC on FOX 1 results, check out the jump.
The UFC makes its national television debut on FOX Saturday night with one of the biggest heavyweight fights in the history of the organization as Cain Velasquez defends his heavyweight championship against Junior dos Santos.
Coming into the fight, the oddsmakers like the champion Velasquez to retain, as he has a money line of -190 to win on Saturday night. Dos Santos comes in with odds of +155. These two will clash from the Honda Center in Anaheim at 9 p.m. ET live on FOX.
Here is a look at both fighters and my pick for the winner.
Cain Velasquez (9-0) – The former wrestler from Arizona State is unbeaten in his short MMA career and he holds wins over top fighters like Cheick Kongo, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Brock Lesnar. Velasquez started as a wrestler, but has quickly developed his boxing and turned into one of the top knockout artists in the division. The questions for the champion coming in are his conditioning and health, as he is coming off rotator cuff surgery that has sidelined him for over a year. His longest fight in the UFC is 15 minutes and he struggled to make it to the end there, so if this fight goes deep, he could be in rough shape.
Junior dos Santos (13-1) – The Brazilian is 7-0 in the UFC and holds wins over the likes of Fabricio Werdum, Mirko CroCop, Roy Nelson, and Shane Carwin. Junior is a powerful striker that likes to throw heavy punches. His uppercut has been his signature strike to finish opponents, but he also works in devastating body shots. A black belt in jiu-jitsu as well, dos Santos hasn’t had to show those skills because he has been able to dominate fights standing. The test for him in this fight will be whether or not he is able to stuff the takedowns of Velasquez, as he has not faced a tough wrestler in the octagon. Like Velasquez, dos Santos hasn’t been pushed past 15 minutes yet, so fatigue could be an issue if this bout reaches the championship rounds.
Who Will Win? – This fight could go 25 minutes and it could go 25 seconds. Both fighters have a lot of explosiveness to them but both also have some big questions coming in. Ultimately, I feel Velasquez’ striking is closer to matching dos Santos’ as opposed to dos Santos’ wrestling being anywhere near Velasquez’. I think both fighters will land some early strikes, but Velasquez will be the one to get the fight to the ground and control Junior from there. I am actually going to be part of the minority that sees this fight going the distance due to Velasquez going with the wrestling.
Brock Lesnar faces Junior Dos Santos at UFC 131 in a No. 1 contender’s bout, but the prize he’s eyeing according to HeavyMMA.com is the title shot with Cain Velasquez.
Lesnar faces Dos Santos in a heavyweight No. 1 contender’s bout at UFC 131 on June 11 in Vancouver with the winner getting a title shot at Velasquez.
Lesnar lost the title to Velasquez at UFC 121 in October of 2010, and Dos Santos stands in his way of an opportunity of regaining the belt.
“I’m angry that I lost last fall, but being angry about it isn’t the solution, but doing something about it, and that’s what I intend to do to get another title shot,” Lesnar said on Monday.
Lesnar made no excuses for the loss to Velasquez, but believes a rematch will be a lot different than their first fight.
“I was healthy physically, but mentally probably not so. I don’t think it really registers to the general public on my year last year from being sick and losing 42 pounds and just to get my ass to the gym to recover and put that weight back on and then having a title fight, and on top of that while I’m training for a title fight a new baby boy, and then fighting Shane Carwin. Then I was expecting some time off because I really needed it mentally more than anything and physically, and then I booked a fight with Cain (Velasquez),” said Lesnar.
HeavyMMA.com hands out their MMA Heavyweight rankings for February and Antonio Silva is the biggest mover of the month.
February’s biggest mover in the heavyweight division is Antonio Silva, who jumps up several spots based on the strength of his stunning win over Fedor Emelianenko. It’s true that Emelianenko is not what he once was, but that doesn’t make Silva’s win any less impressive. In 2005, he was heralded as the guy who had the tools and the size to defeat Emelianenko. In 2011, he finally made it happen, and his star is on the rise while Emelianenko’s is dangerously close to fading away for good.
Let’s take a look at February’s rankings for the heavyweight division.
1. Cain Velasquez
Velasquez will be on the mend for the foreseeable future after undergoing a medical prodecure, but he has returned to light cardio work at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose. Of course, “light cardio” for Cain Velasquez is about 10x longer than we’ve ever run in our entire life.
2. Brock Lesnar
You’d never know it to be true, but Lesnar is still in Vegas and is said to be enjoying his time coaching The Ultimate Fighter a great deal. Once he finishes the coaching gig, he’ll return to Minnesota and begin preparations for Junior dos Santos.
UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez takes place Saturday night from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. featuring a monumental main event for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Here is my take on the card and who will win the main card bouts.
UFC Heavyweight Championship – Brock Lesnar (5-1) vs. Cain Velasquez (8-0): This is the biggest heavyweight bout the UFC could put together right now and Velasquez has a great chance to win the belt. The key will be for him to be able to stop the takedown attempts and keep the fight standing, where he has better striking and faster hands. Lesnar showed that he can be hurt in his last fight against Shane Carwin, but I think Velasquez has the endurance to see the victory through.
UFC Welterweight Bout – Jake Shields (25-4-1) vs. Martin Kampmann (17-3): Shields is making his UFC debut and many are penciling him in as the next to challenge Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title, but I actually like Kampmann in an upset here as he has an all-around and aggressive style that can give Shields problems. Kampmann has only lost to strikers in his career, and Shields is far from an elite striker. I like Kampmann to win by decision in this one.
UFC Welterweight Bout – Diego Sanchez (23-4) vs. Paulo Thiago (13-2): Thiago has beaten some solid contenders in the welterweight division, but he has struggled with superior grapplers, losing to Jon Fitch and Kampmann. Sanchez got dominated in his last two fights and is desperate for a win, and I think he will come out motivated and looking to control the fight from the start with his pacing and wrestling. I like Sanchez to squeak out a decision against Thiago.
UFC Light Heavyweight Bout – Tito Ortiz (16-7-1) vs. Matt Hamill (10-2): Ortiz hasn’t won a fight since 2006 and while Hamill is lacking in some key areas, I think he has a better all-around game than Ortiz, who is pretty one dimensional with wrestling as his strength. Look for Hamill to move around and work kicks before scoring some late takedowns to get a decision win over Ortiz.
UFC Heavyweight Bout – Brendan Schaub (7-1) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (11-5): Schaub has a lot of promise and is an up-and-comer while Gonzaga is still holding on to a little bit of relevance, but has lost four of his last seven fights, with all of the losses coming by TKO. Schaub has won his last two fights by quick KO, so this fight should have plenty of fireworks. Look for Schaub to get the win as he has the quicker hands and is the better technical striker.
Brock Lesnar is set to defend his heavyweight championship belt Saturday night in Anaheim at UFC 121 and HeavyMMA.com was gracious enough to share a ton of great videos for this huge event, which you can find below.
Jeremy Botter of HeavyMMA.com is reporting that UFC 121 has been finalized and the fight card will feature 11 fights.
UFC officials confirmed the complete lineup this morning. The event, headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez, takes place Oct. 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Ca.The co-headlining feature will see Jake Shields make his UFC debut against Martin Kampmann.
In addition to the already-announced main card bouts, UFC officials finalized six preliminary card bouts, including two that will be televised on Spike TV.
In the headlining Spike TV bout, TUF 11 winner Court McGee will make his return to the Octagon to take on Ryan Jensen. McGee defeated Kris McCray in June to capture the TUF 11 championship. Jensen is coming off a 1-minute submission victory over Jesse Forbes at UFC 114.
Two more TUF veterans will meet when Patrick Cote and Tom Lawlor face off in the first Spike-televised bout. Both fighters will attempt to break two-fight losing streaks, and the loser of this fight is likely to be released from his UFC contract.
Four non-televised bouts were also announced for the preliminary card: Mike Guymon vs. Daniel Roberts, Sam Stout vs. Paul Taylor, Chris Camozzi vs. Dongi Yang and Jon Madsen vs. Gilbert Yvel.
Despite defeating Shane Carwin in UFC 116, Brock Lesnar nearly was knocked out in the fight’s opening round. Did Carwin prove that the heavyweight champion’s game is flawed? Nate Lawson of Heavy.com breaks down the five biggest threats to Lesnar’s heavyweight belt, including Cain Velasquez.
Cain Velasquez
Heavy MMA HW Rank: 4
Record: 8-0
Last Five Fights: W-W-W-W-W
Notable Victories: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (KO), Ben Rothwell (TKO)
Notable Losses: None
Next Opponent: Brock Lesnar for UFC heavyweight championship, date undecided
Status: Velasquez has risen to the top of the heavyweight division in a relatively short time and was put on the shelf awaiting the winner of Lesnar vs. Carwin. Lesnar took home the victory and the belt, and now Velasquez has the next shot at stealing away Lesnar’s hardware.
To read the rest of the breakdown of Velasquez, as well as the other four threats to Lesnar’s belt, click here.
I wanted to chew on UFC 116 for a few days before I really made any statements about it. The event took place last Saturday and featured the heavyweight collision between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin.
Lesnar won the fight by second round submission after taking a pummeling from Carwin in round one. It was a compelling fight and very entertaining, but I think Lesnar is garnering a little too much praise for his performance. While you have to give credit where credit is due, as he won the fight, Lesnar looked far from polished. Here is a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from his title defense.
The Good: Obviously the good came in the win. He survived a hail storm and still came out in the second round and was aggressive. Lesnar also showed improved skills on the ground, as he scored a takedown and transitioned into mount and then into a head-and-arm choke from side control. These were all things he probably couldn’t do two years ago. I was also impressed with the way Lesnar handled himself after the fight. He seems to have embraced a little humanity since his health scare in November.
The MMA world was turned upside down Saturday night when Fabricio Werdum submitted Fedor Emelianenko at Strikeforce’s Fedor vs. Werdum event.
Fedor had not lost since 2000, winning 27-striaght fights in that span. He was considered by many as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world due to his dominance in Pride, Affliction, and now Strikeforce. Yet, there he was being submitted by Werdum, a man who had never really risen to any sort of iconic status in his career and was largely thought to be a lamb for slaughter to Fedor on Saturday.
The upset has an impact in many ways, but there isn’t anyone happier about it, including Werdum, than UFC President Dana White.
White has been the face of MMA from an organizational standpoint for years now and his company, Zuffa Entertainment, has completely held the top spot in the MMA world.
White has signed all the top fighters and put on all the top fights over the last five years, yet he could never ink the highly sought-after Fedor Emelianenko.
Despite numerous attempts and record-setting contract offers, Fedor would never sign with the UFC because the organization would not co-promote his fights with his management company at M-1 Global. Fedor had the ability to hold power in contract talks because of the status he had reached in MMA through his record winning streak.
The failed contract talks spewed a lot of negativity between White and Fedor, but it also made White look bad. Despite all of his criticisms of Fedor, you knew he wanted to sign him and bring him to the UFC to see just where he stood among the heavyweights in that division.
With Fedor down to two fights on his Strikeforce contract heading into Saturday’s bout, the UFC had one last attempt to sign him over the next year. Now, with the loss, that urgency on the UFC’s part is completely gone.
Not only did Fedor lose, not only did he lose in just over one minute, but he lost to a man that the UFC cut because they didn’t feel he was worth his contract.
Werdum has lost in the octagon to Andrei Arlovski and Junior dos Santos, but he just beat Fedor without landing a strike.
Now when contract talks come around, White can look at know that he doesn’t have to sign him to prove anything. If anything, now Fedor has to prove himself against UFC heavyweights like Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, dos Santos, and Cain Velasquez.
Now White can proclaim he has the top fighters in the world in the heavyweight division and in the pound-for-pound category. Trust me, as smug as it might be to make a big deal out of it in the media, White won’t hesitate to do so.
So while Werdum is enjoying his night of success, White is feeling like its Christmas day.
