UFC on FOX: There Is Nobody Left for Junior dos Santos After Overeem or Lesnar
At UFC on FOX, Junior dos Santos not only became the first person to defeat Cain Velasquez, but also captured the UFC heavyweight championship.
It took dos Santos only 64 seconds to connect with a right hand that put Velasquez down. From there, dos Santos pounded his helpless foe until referee John McCarthy stepped in to stop the action.
What makes this feat even more incredible is the fact that Dos Santos was on crutches due to a knee injury just 11 days before the bout.
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Moving forward, Dos Santos will fight the winner of the Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem bout scheduled to headline UFC 141. The date of Dos Santos' first title defense has yet to be announced.
Both Lesnar and Overeem are very talented fighters, but they bring nothing to the table that Dos Santos has not already dealt with in the past. It is difficult to not see the reigning heavyweight champion as a huge favorite over either of these fighters.
Furthermore, both Lesnar and Overeem have shown questionable chins throughout their career. At this point, it would be pretty safe to say that nobody hits harder than Dos Santos in the heavyweight division. If, or when, he connects with one of his heavy right hands, it could very easily end the night for either challenger.
Should Dos Santos defeat either Overeem or Lesnar, who would be left to challenge him for the title?
The heavyweight division is full of up-and-coming talent and gatekeepers, but aside from the four elite fighters in the division there is nobody even close to being on the level of Dos Santos.
Fights against Cheick Kongo, Stephan Struve, Pat Berry or Matt Mitrione would be laughable. Roy Nelson has already proven he can not compete with upper-level competition. Frank Mir may be a viable option later in 2012, but it has been years since he has defeated a top heavyweight.
It may be a little too early to say this, but I'm going to go ahead and say itโJunior dos Santos will have the longest heavyweight title run in UFC history.
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