#3 Cigano scrambles Cain Velasquez’s brain
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Junior ‘Cigano’ Dos Santos (18-4) is a former UFC Heavyweight champion with an MMA base of BJJ and boxing. Cain Velasquez (14-2) is a former 2-time UFC Heavyweight champion and NCAA-Div 1 All-American, with an MMA base of wrestling and kick-boxing.
After dethroning Brock Lesnar at UFC 121, Velasquez defended his Heavyweight strap against Cigano in the UFC’s 1st event on the FOX network. The fight was brief and cagey while it lasted, with Cigano measuring Velasquez with jabs to the body and Velasquez trying to chop down his boxing-centric opponent’s lead leg.
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After about a minute of these exchanges, Cigano caught Velasquez with an overhand right behind the ear. A few ground-and-pound shots later, Cigano was the new champion.
Velasquez later revealed that Cigano’s overhand disabled his sense of equilibrium, with the punch landing around his ear. He also credited Cigano’s power and strategy. Cigano timed Velasquez from the exact opposite angle of the earlier body-jabs, tricking him with the change of angles.
