Yep, he's a pretty awesome fighter. Just ask anyone who has trained with him.
What Junior dos Santos brings to the table: Dos Santos owns the best boxing skills in the MMA heavyweight division. Though he possesses stand up diversity beyond boxing, his jab and uppercut are really what set him apart. Dos Santos has fast hands, great power, and the cardio to fight for a long time.
From a ground perspective, we still don't know a ton regarding his submissions/ground and pound, beyond the fact that he holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. But what we did learn in his fight against Shane Carwin is that his takedown defense is top notch.
Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos Prediction: FOX is getting a great main event to start things off. In the end, both guys have upper echelon cardio, but Velasquez's is simply better. That coupled with his higher level wrestling skills will likely equate to Dos Santos being put on his back on some point. Can he survive there? As long as he doesn't spend too much time on his back, I think he can (though the pressure Velasquez will put on him will be unique and scary).
Can Velasquez survive on his feet against Dos Santos, who is the better striker in this fight? I think he's going to have a lot of trouble there, more than some realize. But he's so tough, it's definitely possible.
In the end, I think Velasquez will win if the fight stays on the ground longer. In fact, if he's able to net takedowns at will, he might even be able to stop Dos Santos. On the flip side, I think Velasquez is going to have some trouble with dos Santos's striking, and will likely have trouble getting him to the ground in the early goings.
Could go either way. But I'm calling the upset here.
Junior dos Santos defeats Cain Velasquez by decision.
