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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Entering Saturday's UFC 155 event, UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos is feeling calm and confident about his rematch with Cain Velasquez. That said, he understands that Velasquez has a lot on the line in the fight, and he's not taking him lightly.
"I saw his interviews after our last fight, and I've seen his interviews recently," Dos Santos said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "I saw how upset he was to lose the title, and I know how badly he wants to get it back. You can see that very clearly in him."
He's not expecting this fight to end in a minute like the first bout did, but he still believes his skill set is more conducive to finishing the fight in Las Vegas.
"Cain Velasquez might be able to take me down," dos Santos said. "He might be able to take me down 10 times. But for each of those times he takes me down, I'm going to stand back up."
"If I land 10 punches on Cain Velasquez, he's not going to stand back up."
Penick's Analysis: This is one of the main keys to the fight on Saturday night. Dos Santos' striking game is superior to that of Velasquez, and he's shown an ability to avoid damage quite often in his career. Velasquez needs to get him down and keep him down, and that's something that may prove extremely difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish. If Velasquez can't accomplish that, then dos Santos just needs to score more often with his striking throughout the fight.
[Junior dos Santos art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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