UFC 166: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos III (10/19/2013) - Houston, TX (Toyota Center)

[Elsalvajeloco]

UFC 166: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos III
October 19, 2013
Houston, TX (Toyota Center)

UFC World Heavyweight Championship: Cain Velasquez © (241) vs. Junior dos Santos (240) (second defense) - Velasquez, TKO (referee stoppage), R5 (3:09)
Daniel Cormier (224) vs. Roy Nelson (249) - Cormier, DEC
Gilbert Melendez (156) vs. Diego Sanchez (156) - Melendez, DEC (unanimous)
Gabriel Gonzaga (257) vs. Shawn Jordan (255) - Gonzaga, TKO (punches), R1 (1:33)
John Dodson (125) vs. Darrell Montague (126) - Dodson, KO (punch), R1 (4:13)

Fox Sports 1 Preliminary Card:
Tim Boetsch (186) vs. C.B. Dollaway (186) - Boetsch, DEC (split)
Nate Marquardt (171) vs. Hector Lombard (169) - Lombard, KO (punches), R1 (1:48)
Sarah Kaufman (135) vs. Jessica Eye (135) - No Decision (Eye Tested Positive for Marijuana Metabolites)
George Sotiropoulos (155) vs. KJ Noons (156) - Noons, DEC (unanimous)

Facebook Preliminary Card:
TJ Waldburger (170.5) vs. Adlan Amagov (171) - Amagov, KO (punches), R1 (3:00)
Tony Ferguson (155) vs. Mike Rio (156) - Ferguson, SUB (d'arce choke), R1 (1:52)
Jeremy Larsen (145.5) vs. Andre Fili (148.5)* - Fili, TKO (punches), R2 (0:53)
Dustin Pague (135) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (135) - Horiguchi, TKO (punches), R2 (3:51)

*Chose not to reweigh; forfeits 20% of purse for missing weight

Event Bonuses ($60,000):
Knockout of the Night: John Dodson
Submission of the Night: Tony Ferguson
Fight of the Night: Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez

Attendance: 17,238
Gate: $2.5 million
Buyrate: 330,000

Cancelled Bouts:
Charles Oliveira vs. Estevan Payan - Injury to Payan
Charles Oliveira vs. Jeremy Larsen  - Injury to Oliveira (Thigh)
Matt Grice vs. Jeremy Larsen - Injuries to Grice (Involved in Car Accident)
George Roop vs. Francisco Rivera - Bout Moved to Another Event
Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Boetsch - Injury to Rockhold (MCL)

[MarcosLoura]

I like this card. I like this card a lot.

[Lawful Metal]

I'm going to be there live. Can't wait!

[epwar]

How did Amagov get stuck on a Facebook bout?  

[TheVileOne]

How did Amagov get stuck on a Facebook bout?  

 

Because he happened to land on a huge, stacked card where even some of the FS1 prelims could be main card bouts.  His UFC debut was also on the Facebook prelims.  

[Elsalvajeloco]

Does he have a huge fanbase that I am not aware of?

[epwar]

Me, goddamnit!

[Zero]

So, this could go either way. Is this a case of who lands first? 

[S.K.o.S.]

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/mma--cain-velasquez-passed-on-a-submission-in-last-fight-against-junior-dos-santos-to-prove-a-point-175513477.html

 

Velasquez had several opportunities to end dos Santos' night early by grabbing a submission. Velasquez, though, eschewed the numerous submission opportunities that presented themselves during the fight.

 

This was no accident. Velasquez is an accomplished jiu-jitsu player and was recently awarded his black belt. He'll fight dos Santos for the third time Saturday in the main event of UFC 166 with the heavyweight belt again at stake in Houston's Toyota Center.

 

Velasquez, who had lost his title to dos Santos at UFC on Fox 1 on Nov. 12, 2011, made a conscious effort to skip the submission the last time out as a way of making a brutal and painful point.

 

"My style of fighting, I'd rather end fights with ground and pound and stuff like that," Velasquez told Yahoo Sports. "I felt he took something away from me that was mine, and I figured I had to make him pay for that. That's why I didn't go for the submission."

 

 

So dos Santos looked like shit last time because he overtrained, and Velasquez looked like he didn't know what to do when he had dos Santos' back because he was intentionally trying to keep the fight going.  Okay, got it.

[glfpunk]

Velasquez being a black belt is fucking hilarious. He looks clueless on the ground. And by clueless i mean exactly the same as he did in his first fights in the ufc.

[twiztor]

i can buy that Cain didn't go for subs because he didn't want to. i CAN'T buy that Cain is a black belt. that is ridiculous. in his UFC career, he has never once shown any submission savviness. (in other news, i have no idea how "savviness" should be spelled)

 

all that being said, i still think Cain will take this one.

[glfpunk]

Cain to me is the least impressive champion the UFC has had in quite a while.  I know I'm in the minority in this opinion but I think the guy looks like dogshit when he fights.  His striking is horrible and he has zero ground game in terms of submissions.  What he has going for him is the fact that he constantly moves forward, can get his opponent to the ground and then control their position, and he's a HW.  That's it.  He's super sloppy and doesn't look any more advanced right now than he did when he first started in the UFC. 

[Craig H]

Velasquez being a black belt is fucking hilarious. He looks clueless on the ground. And by clueless i mean exactly the same as he did in his first fights in the ufc.

 

Didn't someone recently, or maybe in the last year or two, receive their black belt the day before or day of their fight and then get tapped by a fighter with a much lower level belt? Was it Bendo getting tapped by Pettis? I keep wanting to think it was Rashad that this happened to, but I'm not sure if that's right.

[Craig H]

Cain to me is the least impressive champion the UFC has had in quite a while.  I know I'm in the minority in this opinion but I think the guy looks like dogshit when he fights.  His striking is horrible and he has zero ground game in terms of submissions.  What he has going for him is the fact that he constantly moves forward, can get his opponent to the ground and then control their position, and he's a HW.  That's it.  He's super sloppy and doesn't look any more advanced right now than he did when he first started in the UFC. 

 

I swear you were talking shit about his soft hands right before he knocked someone the fuck out. This was before he won the title I believe. I think Cain exists to keep mystifying you.

[Elsalvajeloco]

 

Velasquez being a black belt is fucking hilarious. He looks clueless on the ground. And by clueless i mean exactly the same as he did in his first fights in the ufc.

 

Didn't someone recently, or maybe in the last year or two, receive their black belt the day before or day of their fight and then get tapped by a fighter with a much lower level belt? Was it Bendo getting tapped by Pettis? I keep wanting to think it was Rashad that this happened to, but I'm not sure if that's right.

 

 

 

You're probably thinking Benson because Rashad has never lost by submission. Also, he got his black belt three months before he lost to Pettis at UFC 164.

[glfpunk]

I can't remember thinking he had soft hands. The fight i was the most down on him was the Kongo fight so i might have said something like that before he KOd Nog because he couldn't put away Kongo. I watch Junior and he is just miles better than Cain. I can't believe he let that no talent ass clown whoop him last time. If Cain wins this fight i am just done with the heavyweight division.

[keith_h]

If Cain wins I doubt we ever see Cain/JDS Part 4. If JDS wins though, I bet Cain only needs to win one or two and then we get a 4th fight. The UFC seems determined to have Cain as champ to try and "capture the Mexican market." 

 

Have to agree though that I find Cain horribly boring to watch. His personality and interviews are like watching paint dry and his fighting style just doesn't do anything for me. He's fast and relentless and that's about it. He had a dead man walking for 5 rounds and couldn't do shit but lump up JDS face...  If a 250 pound man can hit a guy that much and only swell him up, you have shit for punching power.

[Elsalvajeloco]

If Cain wins this fight i am just done with the heavyweight division.

 

Yeah, I doubt that.

[glfpunk]

Stop doubting me!

[Craig H]

I've seen a lot of people comment on how explosive Cain is during training, so I don't think he's a total slouch. It sounds like you look at him like how I used to look at Tim Sylvia.

[keith_h]

Sylvia was the worst. But that whole era of UFC heavyweights (aside from prime Arlovski and pre-accident Mir) was horrible.

[epwar]

If Cain wins I doubt we ever see Cain/JDS Part 4. If JDS wins though, I bet Cain only needs to win one or two and then we get a 4th fight. The UFC seems determined to have Cain as champ to try and "capture the Mexican market." 

 

If Cain loses, they'll have him fight Bigfoot again and then give him another title shot. ;-)

[Craig H]

Nah. If Barnett gets past Browne, I think Barnett winds up being next in line. They could always shoot Cormier up to the top, but beating Nelson seems like low hanging fruit.

[keith_h]

Cormier *claims* he's going to 205 win or lose after the Nelson fight.

[Elsalvajeloco]

I've seen a lot of people comment on how explosive Cain is during training, so I don't think he's a total slouch. It sounds like you look at him like how I used to look at Tim Sylvia.

 

He is more than explosive in training. He is pretty much what Jon Jones is at Jackson's. He is the alpha in the room. The only person that can keep up with him is DC.