UFC on FOX: 5 Keys to Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos

This Saturday night, Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos will headline the UFC’s debut on network television, in what is sure to be an explosive and entertaining Heavyweight Title Fight on FOX.

This will be Velasquez’s first title defense since beating Brock Lesnar at UFC 121, on Oct. 23, 2010.

This fight will come down to a few key points that all of us need to pay attention to, so let’s break down this all-important main event.

Cain Velasquez's Wrestling Advantage

Junior Dos Santos has upper-echelon skills in all phases of the game, except for when it comes to wrestling.

He has fared well against fighters with wrestling background such as Shane Carwin, but he hasn’t faced anyone with the wrestling background of Cain Velasquez.

Velasquez may try to take this fight to the mat and beat Dos Santos with some serious ground and pound.

Who’s Jiu Jitsu Is Better

According to Velasquez’s trainer, Dave Camarillo, he’s become a brown belt in Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu. Dos Santos is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

I’m not one to sit here and dissect the differences between the two—which I’m sure there are a few—but, it seems Dos Santos is more of an overall polished BJJ practitioner, having submitted four fighters he has faced.

If it comes down to a BJJ match and he capitalizes on any mistake Velasquez makes, he could find himself the new heavyweight champ.

Conditioning

Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos are both amazing athletes that take all the necessary steps required to make sure they’re in great fight shape.

Neither one of these guys, however, have gone longer than three rounds.

Not that I think this fight will even get past two rounds, but if does get into rounds four and five, it will be interesting to see who has the better cardio.

We saw what happened to Shane Carwin when he went into the second round with Brock Lesnar at UFC 116. He gassed himself with all those punches in the first round and had nothing left when they came out to start the second round.

Dos Santos may have a slight edge here, having gone three rounds in his last two fights.

Stand and Bang

Enough talk about all that other stuff. This is what everyone wants to see—these two behemoth’s standing toe to toe and just getting after it.

I wouldn’t say that Cain Velasquez has a distinct advantage over Junior Dos Santos in this department, but he does have a big win over Brock Lesnar, in which he beat Lesnar down with his hands.

Also, Dos Santos wasn’t able to finish off his last two fights against Shane Carwin and Roy Nelson.

He won both of those fights by decision, but Velasquez has knocked out everyone he’s faced except Cheick Kongo.

Will Cain Velasquez Be Rusty?

The last time Cain Velasquez entered the octagon was on Oct. 23, 2010, when he beat Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight Title.

A 13 month layoff could prove to be a disadvantage for him.

If you go back into UFC history, guys like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 114 against Rashad Evans—going back even further to UFC 66 when Nate “The Rock” Quarry came back after a nearly two-year layoff—both of these guys struggled mightily in their returns.

This could prove to be the biggest key component to this fight. Will Cain Velasquez be sharp and ready come Saturday, Nov. 12?

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