Junior dos Santos vs. Frank Mir: What's Next for dos Santos?

If you weren’t sold on Junior dos Santos before UFC 146, the results of his main event scrap with two-time champion Frank Mir had to change your mind. The skilled Brazilian slugger beat his man from pillar to post, routinely tagging him with vicious combinations and knocking him down repeatedly before referee Herb Dean had finally seen enough.

With that, he became the first man since Brock Lesnar to defend the heavyweight title in the UFC. He also has people wondering: what’s next?

Luckily, Dana White didn’t take long to answer that question. He says dos Santos will face Cain Velasquez, from whom he snatched the gold in November 2011 with a thundering knockout victory on the first show the promotion ever did on FOX.

It’s a rematch borne of both necessity—there are no other real contenders in convincing position to challenge—and also out of Velasquez’s own spectacular win at UFC 146—he demolished Bigfoot Silva inside of a round.

End result: Two of the best in the world will meet once again, likely within a year of their first matchup.

It’s an exciting proposition for fans who heard stories of an injured Velasquez losing to an equally-injured dos Santos the first time around. Rumblings were rampant and reports later confirmed that neither man was 100 percent in the first scrap, and the idea that both could be granted a reprieve in a second meeting has people salivating at the prospect.

The first installment wasn’t bad, it just didn’t play out the way people wanted it to. It was two big, skilled men who weren’t firing on all cylinders, and it was over before it started.

Given the history of both men for putting on longer, more explosive, and generally incredibly exciting fights, there’s a lot of room for things to improve.

There’s a chance the Velasquez may put dos Santos on his back and test him, something no one has ever been able to do and, judging by the Mexican-American’s showing against Silva, something dos Santos definitely doesn’t want.

There’s a chance dos Santos may be pushed a little more in terms of his cardio, something never really questioned but also rarely seen. He looked tired after wailing on Roy Nelson for 15 minutes at UFC 117, but the volume of strikes and power punches he threw and landed would gas out anyone. Against Velasquez, a notorious cardio freak, we could see his first true test.

There’s also a chance for dos Santos to prove his win was no fluke. Before he KOd Velasquez, many people thought he was the best in the world. He’d demolished everyone he ever fought and had such a mystique about him that he spent most of his career struggling to find opponents. Another dos Santos win, particularly in convincing fashion, could rocket him into “best heavyweight ever” conversations.

So, what’s next for Junior dos Santos? A fight with Cain Velasquez—a fight that he’s fought before. However, he will fight again under more forgiving circumstances. A fight that may allow him to secure his legacy as a great in the sport, probably before his 28th birthday.

Getcha popcorn ready, as they say.