UFC 139 Preview: Cain Velasquez Looks to Shake off Ring Rust Ahead of UFC 139

According to MMAJunkie.com, UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez is ahead of schedule and already training for his next opponent, heavy-handed Brazilian, Junior dos Santos at UFC 139.

Velasquez suffered a torn labrum in his title bout against Brock Lesnar at UFC 121, which has kept him out of action for the last year. Velasquez said the recovery process has been better than his training camp expected but it is now a matter of working on the basics.

"First thing was simple stuff like foot movement," Velasquez told MMAJunkie.

"That and the head movement, and the striking defense and striking offense. I'm just trying to get back the technique into everything I do. Now, it's trying to get the power and the combinations back."

Since Velasquez has been recovering on the sidelines, dos Santos has been racking up victories over some of the heavyweight division's top fighters and making his claim as the perennial No. 1 contender. In his most recent victory over Shane Carwin at UFC 131, dos Santos dominated his opponent, picking his shots and setting up combinations, as well as utilizing his wrestling skills by putting Carwin to the canvas on more than one occasion. 

Velasquez, who was in attendance to watch the bout, was impressed with dos Santos' performance. And after witnessing the Brazilian's striking power up close, Velasquez said he needs to utilize more of his skills to prevent his opponent from using his biggest weapons.

"I think mixing everything well will be a huge factor, but yeah, knowing that he has those really good hands is a big part," he said.

"Overall, I just have to get better in all aspects of MMA. Everything can improve still."

Velasquez added that he is an entirely different opponent from Carwin and believes he has more skills than dos Santos that could work to his advantage. However, Velasquez is looking to sharpen those skills one day at a time so that most of his ring rust is gone on November 19.

"The only thing I can do is go to practice and get all my sparring there to try to eliminate most of that,"he said.

"But it's definitely a thing. It happens."