UFC 155: Junior dos Santos says he was too focused on Cain Velasquez's takedowns, left his face unprotected

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The turning point in last Saturday's UFC 155 main event between Cain Velasquez in Junior dos Santos came midway through the first round. Dos Santos was focused on stopping the takedowns of his opponent, and though he was dragged down a couple times early, he was doing a solid job of defending.

However, as he backed up and kept his attention locked on the takedowns, he left himself open to getting hit, and Velasquez made him pay with a big overhand right to the jaw that sent the Champion to the mat. That knock down had dos Santos completely out of sorts, and he never fully recovered from there.

After the event, dos Santos told Brazilian outlet SporTV that he was too focused on the takedowns into the fight, and he admitted that his gameplan into the fight was not effective.

"He was better and deserved to win, but I used the wrong strategy," Dos Santos said (via ESPN UK). "I was very worried about his entry on my legs and left my face unprotected. So he hit me."

"When I was on the floor, I should have used more jiu-jitsu, I trained so much. But I tried to get back up, and it hurt me too, but on the ground he is very good, very strong. I did not connect any punches good. It was bad because I was feeling very well, did a great training camp, everything was just right. But the fight is [over] anyway."

Penick's Analysis: This again is why this matchup is intriguing. After the first fight, where both fighters were injured, Velasquez vowed to come back strong and actually implement the gameplan that he had intended to implement in the first fight. Now that he's successfully accomplished that, it's dos Santos' turn to figure out what he needs to do differently next time around. He knows what didn't work here, and he recognizes that his approach to the bout left him open to that fight-altering strike. If he can find a way to balance his defense of both takedowns and striking, we could see a very different fight again when they eventually meet. This is truly the type of rivalry where anything can happen, and where both fighters can find ways to win and adjust from however things play out, and the prospect of seeing them again is extremely intriguing.

[Junior dos Santos art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_15486.shtml

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