Cain Velasquez thoroughly dominated Junior dos Santos at UFC 155 in Las Vegas on Saturday to regain the UFC heavyweight championship in a unanimous decision, but he apparently inflicted less pain on his opponent than initially believed.
Velasquez rocked JDS early in the fight and pretty much cruised thereafter. Many people felt like Cain could have attempted to finish dos Santos, but Velasquez was content to continue administering punishment while wearing out the Brazilian. There was even speculation following the fight that Velasquez broke dos Santos’ jaw.
Dos Santos went to the hospital immediately after the fight, and UFC boss Dana White said he had heard the former champ broke his jaw in the second round. It turns out that claim was unfounded.
Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole reported after the fight that a rep for dos Santos says the Brazilian did not have any injuries and that he was not even in pain. FOX Sports’ A.J. Perez also says dos Santos was discharged from the hospital without any injuries.
Though dos Santos may have avoided serious injury, he will likely be handed a lengthy suspension from the athletic commission to allow time to heal. After that, the question becomes whom will he fight next?
White said after the fight that Cigano likely will fight once before receiving another shot at the title. If Velasquez still is the heavyweight champion at that time, it would be the third fight in what is shaping up as an awesome trilogy between them. No UFC heavyweight champion has successfully defended the title more than twice.
