5 Things Junior Dos Santos Must Do To Beat Cain Velasquez

by Mike Hodges
bleacherreport.com

The heavy-handed Brazilian has steamrolled through the heavyweight division, dominating opponents such as Fabricio Werdum, Gabriel Gonzaga and Mirko Cro Cop.

Will certainly not be an easy task for Velasquez to handle, the fact that early odds-makers hold Cain Velasquez as a slight favourite over the Brazilian implies that both men are very well-rounded. Furthermore, both Velasquez and Dos Santos are entering the prime of their careers, at 28 and 26 respectively.

A victory for Dos Santos will not only end the short title reign of Velasquez but it will generate a new era of heavyweight fighters.

Here is the 5 Things Junior Dos Santos Must Do To Beat Cain Velasquez...

...While he is primarily a striker, Junior Dos Santos does hold strong wrestling skills too. Dos Santos uses his wrestling more defensively though, as he holds a strong take down defense against wrestlers and submission specialists such as Roy Nelson and Gabriel Gonzaga. He elevates his hips tremendously well which allows him to immediately get back to his feet, evident in his bout with Gonzaga at UFC on Versus.

The Brazilian will need focus on the aspect of wrestling a little more against the well-rounded Velasquez. Velasquez's fight with Brock Lesnar proved that size doesn't matter and he took the 265lb Lesnar down relatively easy. Velasquez has a great wrestling predigree and is arguably the best wrestler in the UFC heavyweight division, should he take Dos Santos down, it'll be interesting to see if and how he can defend off of his back.

Dos Santos has rarely fought off of his back and it would be interesting to see how he could defend off his back. Interesting to note that Dos Santos holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jujitsu while training under the tutelage of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria. So it's not like he isn't comfortable on the ground, the fact that he holds a majority of wins by KO or TKO without having to showcase his submission skills is impressive.

The only reason why he hasn't relied much on his submission game is because he hasn't been put in that situation. Therefore it's possible he has a few submissions on his mind, in case the fight ends up on the ground.

Dos Santos is one of the top heavyweights in the division and he will need to use ring awareness effectively against a tough opponent in Cain Velasquez.

Velasquez fights at a relentless pace and will look to impose his superior wrestling skills against Dos Santos. Dos Santos needs to keep his distance from the champion in order to avoid being pressured or bullied. He also needs take advantage of Velasquez aggressive style and force him to commit and stand.

One way to avoid Velasquez charging at him, Dos Santos should look to stick and move while landing his strikes cleaner and faster in order to catch Velasquez.

Should the fight take place on the ground, Dos Santos should use his strong hips to push off and try to  control Velasquez and get back to his feet. The faster that Dos Santos gets back to his feet, the more frustrated his opponent could become.

At UFC 117 Dos Santos battled the rotund but durable Roy Nelson, where the Brazilian took the win decisively by uninamous decision. While battering Nelson for three rounds, Dos Santos looked to be worn out and exhausted.

Should he gas out against Velasquez, it will be a very comfortable victory for his opponent, as Velasquez has shown in his past fights that he possess an unlimited gas tank. In order to not repeat his performance at UFC 117, Dos Santos needs to be patient and not commit to attacking Velasquez all at once. However he cannot become too comfortable and let Velasquez dictate the pace of the fight. He'll also need to force his opponent to commit and stand.

Dos Santos cardio is a potential weakness and it could be a deciding factor during his title bout against Velasquez. The longer the fight goes on, the more favourable Velasquez will become to retain his title.

Junior Dos Santos possess the best striking in the UFC heavyweight division.

The Brazilian is a very fast and technical striker with strong boxing skills and well-timed, crisp combinations.

His superior striking skills will be the key factor to beating Cain Velasquez and although Velasquez is a technical striker himself, Dos Santos is better at it. Dos Santos should be patient and utilize his jab to create distance between him and Velasquez, it will allow him time to setup a combination and look to find an opening.

Dos Santos should also be patient and not over commit to striking, it could lead to leaving himself open or become gassed. He should also become more versatile rather than just commit to striking with his hands, try mixing up his strikes by using his kicks and clinch effectively.

In the past, Velasquez has shown to be more susceptible to getting hit with clean shots than Dos Santos, evident in his fight with Cheick Kongo. Velasquez tends to leave himself slightly more open than Dos Santos. The Brazilian tucks his chin and throws his strikes forward as opposed to Velasquez, who throws his strikes from wide angles.

If the two heavyweights begin to exchange with each other, Dos Santos could catch Velasquez with a hard shot or a fast combination that could hurt the champion and allow Dos Santos to follow up, unloading on Velasquez, and finishing him.