Velasquez vs. Dos Santos Knockout: Don't Blame Velasquez's Defeat on Ring Rust

Over a year ago, Cain Velasquez claimed the UFC Heavyweight Championship by punching the daylights out of Brock Lesnar at UFC 121.

On Saturday night, Junior dos Santos claimed that same title by punching the daylights out of Cain Velasquez.

What goes around comes around?

Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure the expression applies here, but there was definitely something oddly fitting about Velasquez's defeat. I won't say I saw it coming, but I won't say that I was surprised either.

Defeat was always in the cards for Velasquez. After all, his victory over Lesnar was also his last foray in the Octagon before Saturday night. As bad as he is, a year of inaction is a long time for any fighter of any discipline. In a sport like MMA in which every second is precious, Velasquez's layoff was an eternity.

This is where the old ring rust excuse comes into play. Had Velasquez gotten at least one fight in sometime during the last year, perhaps he would have lasted a bit longer than just a minute and four seconds.

Admittedly, it's hard not to entertain the possibility. But that's all you should do. Entertain it, but stop short of believing it.

Listen—Velasquez may have been rusty on Saturday night. He looked like he was. But you have to give dos Santos some credit. He landed a hell of a punch, and no amount of non-rustiness, if you will, was going to save Velasquez from being dazed by it.

Once dos Santos landed that vicious haymaker, the fight was over. Velasquez still had his wits when he went to the ground, but he obviously didn't have the power to stand. All he could do was scoot backwards a few inches on his rump before dos Santos started rearranging his face.

In my eyes, Velasquez wasn't undone by rust. He was undone by garden-variety vulnerability.

To put it simply, he just plain got beat.

Hey, it happens. But if you start making excuses for Velasquez, you're doing him a disservice and denying dos Santos of some well-deserved credit.

Make no mistake—you don't become a heavyweight champ by accident. You do need a little luck, but you also have to make your own.

Dos Santos made his with his right fist. At the absolute very least, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.