By Omar Castellon
Staff Writer
This Saturday has the potential to be the most important day for the UFC and mixed martial arts as a whole. The televised broadcast will only feature a single bout, but the entire undercard will be streamed on Facebook. Nevertheless, that one fight, a heavyweight title match between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos, promises to be a spectacle.
Velasquez has a record of 9-0 and claimed the heavyweight belt with a phenomenal TKO of Brock Lesnar in October of last year. As a two-time All-American at Arizona State University, Velasquez has had no trouble adapting his well-honed wrestling skills to MMA. Through the years, he has accentuated his wrestling with an ever improving striking and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game. It can be argued that Velasquez is one of the few heavyweights to actually show marked improvement between fights. Unfortunately for him, the man that will stand opposite of him has shown the same level of growth and will likely be the toughest opponent of his career.
With a record of 13-1, Junior dos Santos has looked impressive in all his UFC victories. Predominately a boxer, dos Santos’s evolution was most apparent in his previous bout against Shane Carwin. Throughout the match, dos Santos demonstrated impressive takedown defense as well as a few takedowns of his own. He is also a potential submission threat, considering that he trains under the Nogueira brothers, who are respected for their grasp of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.Both fighters are well-rounded, but each holds certain advantages over the other. Velasquez is likely the stronger grappler while dos Santos is the superior boxer. Not surprisingly, dos Santos’s path to victory is to prevent the takedown and to quickly stand up should he be put on his back. While he was successful in defending Carwin’s takedown attempts, Velasquez is an entirely different beast. But assuming he prevents the takedown, dos Santos should look to counter-punch. Given that he has far better hands than Velasquez, dos Santos has no reason to put himself in danger. The jab should prove to be an effective weapon.
On the other hand, Velasquez needs to respect dos Santos’s hands. He needs to be wary of power punches, particularly the uppercut which dos Santos always throws with malicious intent. Because of the speed and accuracy of dos Santos’s uppercut, Velasquez cannot telegraph his takedown attempts. His striking is certainly good enough to keep dos Santos honest with his punches and if he can force him to overly commit to something he can secure the takedown.
Under most circumstances, I would favor Velasquez in this bout simply because he has more tools at his disposal. However, shortly after winning the belt from Lesnar, Velasquez underwent surgery to treat a torn rotator cuff. This will be the first time he has stepped into the cage in over a year. It remains to be seen if ring rust will be a factor, but it is something to keep in mind.
