Velasquez vs. Silva: Keys for Champion Retaining Title Against Junior Dos Santos

Victories from Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos at UFC 160 have set up a third fight between the two heavyweights. But a second straight title defense won’t be easy for the reigning champion.

Velasquez, defending his belt for the first time since winning it against dos Santos in December, knocked out Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva just 1:21 into the first round. He picked up the 12th victory of his career on Saturday and still has just one loss on his resume.

Dos Santos also won via knockout on Saturday night, kicking Mark Hunt square in the face and then pummeling him to victory. Both have a knack for knocking out their opponents, but dos Santos beat Hunt to the punch, literally. Hunt did put up a fair fight, though, making it well into the third round.

After both heavyweights won their respective matches, UFC president Dana White confirmed what many were hoping for, according to Mike Johnston of SportsNet.

So with a third fight between dos Santos and the man who took his title away, Velasquez, in the works, many fans will tune in to see who comes out on top. Here’s what Velasquez needs to do to ensure that he’s once again the victor.

Go for the Knockout Early

Hey, it worked against Silva.

A quick left and hard right took down Silva in the blink of an eye, ending any slim chance of an upset. Velasquez can end any fight whenever he wants to, and he did so against the challenger on Saturday.

Of Velasquez’s 12 wins, 10 are via knockout. The other two, one against dos Santos and the other against Cheick Kongo, were unanimous decisions. But just two of the knockout victories have come outside of the first round.

Throughout his career, Velasquez lands 6.33 significant strikes per minute with an accuracy of 58 percent, according to Fight Metric. On the other hand, dos Santos absorbs just 2.68 significant strikes every 60 seconds and is able to defend 60 percent of blows that come his way.

Velasquez can’t allow dos Santos to get comfortable and needs to go straight for the knockout. They’re both very good fighters, but the longer the match goes on, the better chance dos Santos has of upsetting him. Dos Santos wants his title back badly and will try to block anything that the reigning champion throws at him.

If Velasquez plans on retaining his title for the future, he’s going to have to overcome another battle with dos Santos. In order to do so, a knockout is necessary.

Protect the Head More Than Anything

It’s tough to say that Velasquez has a true weakness, but if he’s going to lose his belt, it’s probably going to be against someone who knocks him out.

The lone loss of his career came via knockout, and it just so happened that dos Santos was the one who did it. Dos Santos didn’t waste much time either, winning the fight in just over a minute back in November 2011.

Velasquez isn’t the only fighter who’s fallen to dos Santos via KO or TKO. Dos Santos has knocked his opponent out in 13 of his 16 career victories. Two of his other victories were by unanimous decision, and the other was by submission. Dos Santos doesn’t like to wait around much either, although Saturday’s victory did come in the third round.

What’s good for Velasquez is that he is a great defender. He only gets hit with a significant strike 1.56 times per minute. He dodges 61 percent of the attempts too. That could go a long way, since dos Santos hits his opponent with nearly 5.5 hard strikes per minute.

Both heavyweights throw a ton of punches and defend well too. Something has to give. If Velasquez leaves his upper body and head open for just a split second, dos Santos will capitalize and take back what he thinks is his.