UFC on Fox: Should Cain Velasquez Get an Immediate Rematch?

It took Cain Velasquez four years of professional fights to earn a shot at the UFC heavyweight title. After winning it, it took him another year to defend it. At UFC on Fox 1, it only took Junior Dos Santos 64 seconds to take it away.

Now, as Dos Santos (14-1) collects his laurels and Velasquez (9-1) licks his wounds, how long will it be before Velasquez gets his rematch? I believe a rematch of last night's title fight is a matter of when, not if. But I also don't think it will, or should happen immediately.

The UFC has already promised the next title shot to the winner of UFC 141's main event between Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem. So if Dana White and company adhere to that pledge, the immediate-rematch argument is over. In the meantime, Velasquez could face the loser of that match.

If Frank Mir defeats Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, that's another good possibility. Farther down the ladder, Cheick Kongo, still the only fighter to go the distance with Velasquez, may be an option.

But two factors favor Velasquez. First, today's heavyweight division is a fairly top-heavy entity. There's only so far an elite competitor like Velasquez can fall.

No one believes Velasquez, at this juncture, is an even fight for the Brendan Schaubs and Matt Mitriones of the world. If he wins (and even if he loses) Velasquez will be back in the title mix almost by default.

Second, while last night's loss was a pretty definitive one, it wasn't the kind of wire-to-wire domination that would suggest one fighter's total mastery of another. Especially if you want to speculate that Velasquez's ring rust made the champ slightly sluggish. Many questions leading up to the fight centered on Dos Santos' ability to compete on the ground with a wrestler as accomplished as Velasquez.

That question will remain both open and tantalizing until someone puts dos Santos to the test. With the possible exception of Lesnar, no one is in a better position to provide that test than Velasquez.

Finally, Dos Santos is only 27 and Velasquez only 29. Both these men are talented, popular and young. There will be a rematch between these two; it's hard to conceive of a way that it wouldn't.

It won't be immediate, but it will be. All in good time.

Be sure to stay tuned to Bleacher Report for all things UFC on FOX. B/R is your home for complete coverage of the Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos fight card, from pre-fight predictions, to in-fight coverage, results and post-fight analysis. Also be sure to check out our fight card hub page for news and opinion on the entire UFC on FOX fight card.