UFC 146 Results: 3 Things We Learned About Cain Velasquez

UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos may have stolen most of the headlines with his dominant victory over Frank Mir Saturday night at UFC 146, but the most impressive fighter on the card was easily Cain Velasquez.

The former champion rushed out and crushed Antonio Silva, bloodying and battering the former Strikeforce title contender with some brutal ground-and-pound to start the fight, and quickly ended it by TKO when he started raining down punches from the top position.

Now back in the title picture, Velasquez is on a mission to get his belt back and will likely get a rematch with Dos Santos in his next bout.

A Healthy Cain Velasquez Is a Scary Fighter

It’s common knowledge that both Velasquez and Dos Santos were far from 100 percent prior to their battle at UFC on FOX last November. But Velasquez looked very healthy and very good last night.

It seemed that some fans had forgotten just how good the former champion could be, but he was quick to remind them and he beat down Silva in the most one-sided and bloody fight of the night.

When healthy, Velasquez has the talent to beat any fighter in the world, and he will have to harness all of those abilities if he wants to take out the champion in his next bout.

Velasquez’s Wrestling and Ground-and-Pound Are the Best in the Division

For most people, the thought of having a 265 lb monster like “Bigfoot” Silva on top of you is little more than a nightmare, and a lot of fans thought that Velasquez would use his kickboxing to avoid that situation at all costs.

Instead, Velasquez took the fight directly to Silva, securing the takedown within the opening seconds of the bout and dropping some heavy hands to finish the fight a few moments later.

Velasquez’s game plan showed that he isn’t afraid to go to the mat with anyone, and his dominant victory forces you to wonder if he can do the same thing to Dos Santos when they eventually rematch.

He’s Ready for a Rematch Against Junior Dos Santos

While Velasquez’s fight against Silva wasn’t billed as a No. 1 contenders fight, there was no doubt as to who needed to challenge for the title next once it was over.

Cain already owns dominant victories over high-profile fighters like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria and Brock Lesnar, but last night’s victory may have been the most impressive of his career.

The first fight against Dos Santos ended abruptly, and due to the quick finish we never quite got to see what Velasquez’s strategy was against the highly skilled boxer.

It’s almost guaranteed that the rematch will last longer than the first fight, and if it does it will be interesting to see what Velasquez decides to do in order to shut down the striking of JDS.