VANCOUVER, British Columbia – For the second-straight fight heavyweight slugger Junior Dos Santos (13-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) was unable to finish his opponent. For the second-straight time, it hardly seemed to matter.
Dos Santos battered a game Shane Carwin (12-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) over a 15-minute span in the main event of Saturday's UFC 131 event in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Now it's on to UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez (9-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), and Dos Santos believes he's more than ready for his most difficult challenge yet.
"I think my biggest challenge is coming because Cain Velasquez is the champion, and he deserves that," Dos Santos said at the evening's post-event press conference. "He's proved that he is very good, but I will be ready for him."
Dos Santos earned that chance with a masterful display of striking against Carwin, as well as ample takedown defense. A first-round knockdown looked nearly certain to end the fight when Dos Santos swarmed, but referee Herb Dean gave warning after warning to Carwin, who somehow climbed back to his feet.
It was almost identical to Carwin's UFC 116 near-win over Brock Lesnar, except Dos Santos left a little bit of fuel in the gas tank.
Not that utter exhaustion wasn't in the back of his mind.
"I was getting tired from hitting and hitting and hitting," Dos Santos said with a laugh. "[Dean] didn't stop the fight, so I asked him, 'Hey, stop the fight.' He said, 'Keep going, keep going, keep going.'
"I tried to finish him in the first round, but like [Carwin] said, he has a hard chin. He's tough, so I couldn't. … I think it was the right decision of the referee (not to stop the fight) because you saw Shane Carwin go back standing and keep fighting with me. It was a good decision."
Against all odds, the fight made it all the way to third round, and Dos Santos appeared adequately fresh, especially for a heavyweight tilt. Carwin, battered and bloodied, had less to offer, but he still moved forward with a few heavy punches in the final two frames. The occasional shot landed for the wrestling standout, but Dos Santos said he was never truly hurt.
"Just one punch made me feel a little dizzy," Dos Santos said. "But he's got heavy, heavy hands. I think it was the heaviest hands I've ever felt in the UFC."
Still, Dos Santos pressed for the finish. It looked like it might come in the closing moments of the final round, when Dean called for doctors to look at a flap of skin hanging over Carwin's eye.
Dos Santos admitted he wouldn't exactly have been saddened had the fight been halted, but he was impressed by Carwin's resiliency.
"I was prepared to fight three rounds," Dos Santos said. "When the referee stopped the fight, I thought, 'Maybe he could give me the victory right now.' But Shane is a tough guy, and he came back for the fight.
"I think it was a good fight."
Indeed, it was.
The victory was Dos Santos' seventh-straight octagon win, and his eighth-consecutive victory, overall. The resured ensured he will face current champion Velasquez sometime this fall.
Velasquez has developed a reputation as a cardio machine, and his athleticism and wrestling make him a formidable foe. However, Dos Santos said he anticipates a similar performance with the title on the line.
"All my fights I take very serious," Dos Santos said. "But this fight was very important for me because there are so many things in line for me. I was a little bit nervous, but it was like I expected. I was faster, and my boxing skills were a little bit better than him.
"I think the best of Cain is his cardio. He's good in wrestling, too, so I have to train this a lot. I'm learning wrestling very fast, and I will try to defend his takedowns. Using my boxing, all the time I'm looking for the knockout. It's not going to be different."
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