UFC 146 Results: Dos Santos Rout over Mir Proves He Is in a Class of His Own

Junior dos Santos mercilessly took care of Frank Mir in their heavyweight matchup at UFC 146 on Saturday night. While some feel it was a poor substitution for Alistair Overeem, there simply isn't a contender for dos Santos.

Overeem will be out for the balance of the year after failing a drug test. Cain Velasquez is likely the second-best heavyweight, but dos Santos owned Velasquez last November in a fight that barely lasted one minute.

What might be best for dos Santos, and likely the UFC as a whole, is a break from breaking opponents.

Mir may be wishing the break started earlier. While the sixth-ranked fighter in MMA did beat the odds by lasting until the second round, Mir simply didn't have an opportunity to try to force a submission.

The fight looked more like a boxing match, even if the exclamation point on the fight was a blow landed to the back of Mir's head while he was lying on the mat. 

Other potential contenders on the horizon will face off at UFC 147 in July. Fabricio Werdum is slated to face Mike Russow, with Werdum expected to prevail.

Werdum has the pedigree to request a title fight. He is rated only behind dos Santos, Velasquez and Overeem.

He put on a great show against Roy Nelson after leaving Strikeforce for the UFC. A win against Russow would certainly bolster his stance.

While dos Santos may look for an opponent other than Overeem, his camp should be content to wait for the development of other fights. Should Werdum be able to pull wins over Russow and potentially against Velasquez, his standing as a legitimate contender would be established.

Look for dos Santos to face off against Overeem next, though. His suspension will be over in time for an expected late-December UFC match in Las Vegas.

Fights featuring dos Santos vs. Overeem and Werdum vs. Velasquez would make for an amazing pay-per-view draw.

The competition isn't there for dos Santos, but the money to watch him fight certainly is.