UFC on Fox: Where Do Dos Santos and Velasquez Go from Here?

On November 12, 2011, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, two giants of Mixed Martial Arts collided at the inaugural UFC on Fox event.

Cain Velasquez was rolling through the MMA world with nine straight wins and coming into the fight after a monster knockout against then-champion Brock Lesnar. He was the reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion and was primed to show the "new" fans of MMA—in particular, the UFC—what a success he had become.

On the other hand was Junior Dos Santos; a man who had racked up seven UFC wins in a row, including a defeat of Shane Carwin by unanimous decision at UFC 131 in Canada, his last fight.

Junior Dos Santos wanted to show the UFC that he could stand and bang with the baddest of the heavyweights in the company. Dos Santos relies more on his boxing style in his fights and wanted to take out Velasquez early to win that UFC Heavyweight title.

The Dos Santos Moment

The time came to meet in the Octagon for the heavyweight title. Velasquez, a well built 6'1 and 249 lbs., and Dos Santos, a taller and leaner 6'4" and 239 lbs., touch gloves after the stare down and it's time to fight!

Velasquez hits a low leg kick on Dos Santos to start the fight. Both fighters are willing to engage as they circle one another. Dos Santos answers with a hard straight right to the face of Velasquez that sends him back a little. Velasquez lands a series of lower leg kicks on Dos Santos, but nothing hard enough to make his opponent tentative.

They trade small punches inside as the clock is less than thirty seconds into the fight.

Out of nowhere, Dos Santos lands a huge right to the back of the ear of Velasquez that sends him sprawling to the mat! Dos Santos swarms on his fallen opponent and veteran referee "Big" John McCarthy calls the fight off at 1:04 in the first round.

Junior Dos Santos is the new UFC Heavyweight Champion!

Fighting is serious business to Dos Santos

The new heavyweight champion of the UFC now has a target on his back! Junior Dos Santos takes his career seriously and now has returned to training in the wake of his demolishing of former champion Cain Velasquez.

It seemed as though everyone was shocked at the results of the main event of UFC on Fox—except the people that knew Junior Dos Santos best. His training partners, former UFC and Pride Heavyweight Champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and current UFC Middleweight Champion (arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world) Anderson Silva. They knew Dos Santos was a consummate performer and all-around humble man.

Dana White announced recently that neither Cain Velasquez nor Junior Dos Santos will have smooth transitions into their next fights! Let's see what's next for both of them.

The UFC Heavyweight Curse

Some sports have curses...the Curse of the Bambino, the Madden Curse and the Von Erich Family Curse.

But nothing seems as cursed as the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez all were injured during their chases or while holding the heavyweight title during the last few years.

You can add Junior Dos Santos to this list now. He will be out from five to eight months with a torn meniscus that may require surgery.

Where does this leave the division?

UFC 141: Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem

With the UFC heavyweight champion, Junior Dos Santos, facing surgery and time off, a UFC juggernaut and a former PRIDE mainstay will collide to see who will become the top contender to the heavyweight champion. Brock Lesnar, the once unstoppable beast, will face off against London-born Alistair Overeem!

The fight takes place on December 30, 2011, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California.

Brock Lesnar, rebounding from his loss to Cain Velasquez in October of 2010, looks to regain what he calls "his" title with a win over the " Demolition Man." Before his loss to Velasquez, Lesnar won four in a row in the division and took the heavyweight title from Randy Couture in November 2008.

According to MMA Weekly, Alistair Overeem is looking to "knock out Lesnar in the first round." Overeem has won his last seven fights and is looking to make a statement with a win over Lesnar.

Raising Cain

No matter the outcome to UFC 141, Cain Velasquez will return as soon as possible with revenge on his mind. He needs to focus on his rise back to the top, as this young athlete has years left in the sport that made him famous. He is a soft spoken and gracious champion who can do a lot of good for this wonderful sport!