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UFC 155: Junior dos Santos Shows the True Face of Courage in Cain Velasquez Loss

4K views 36 replies 18 participants last post by  locnott 
#1 ·
Heart of a champion. Beaten, but not broken. Every sport needs a rivalry. It brings out the best in em. They will meet again.

Thirty minutes after entering the cage against challenger Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos was smiling. His face may have been grotesquely swollen. He may have just endured a five-round beating for the ages. He may have just lost his UFC title and spot as the world's most dangerous man—but Cain Velasquez couldn't take away his grin, the unabashed smile of a young boy up to no good.

The story in the aftermath of UFC 155, both here at Bleacher Report and on websites across the world, is the return of Velasquez, an amazing fighter who regained the heavyweight title by administering a brutal beating to the man who had knocked him out and embarrassed him on national television in the UFC's Fox debut last year.

And rightfully so. There's a lot to unpack with a Velasquez win, plenty to parse—everything from wrestling's rise back to the top of the martial arts pack to Cain's role in reaching out to the teeming masses of Hispanic boxing fans whom the UFC hopes will embrace the sport's first Mexican-American champion. Cain, despite his dead eyes and even deader soundbites, is good copy.

But the image that remains for me, long after they've finally soaked up all of Joe Lauzon's blood and the remnants of dos Santos's battered pride and packed the UFC Octagon away for the next show, is the deposed champion's bravery and resilience.

Velasquez was unyielding for 25 minutes, but really it was a punch in the first five-minute round that ended the night for dos Santos, a crushing right hand that took advantage of Junior's propensity to back away with his hands down and his chin up.

Everything that came after was just mop up duty. Dos Santos was a dead man walking, never quite regaining his equilibrium, standing there and receiving punishment.

And though Velasquez's legendary cardio faltered a bit after three rounds, he never stopped coming forward, a fistic robot with the intensity set on high. Punch after punch, takedown after takedown (Velasquez set a UFC record with 11) and minutes of grinding his head into Junior's against the fence, and Velasquez still couldn't make the champion quit.

As the minutes counted down to zero, the enduring image wasn't Velasquez and his quiet competence and well-rounded game. It was dos Santos rising again and again to his feet, refusing the easy way out. Fighting.

As strange as it sounds, it's a rare thing to see in this business. Most men, when faced with that kind of onslaught, are happy to let the officials come running to their rescue, not exactly quitting, but not upset that the fight is called to a stop either. It's human instinct—living to fight another day.

Thoughts on the crowd booing Dos Santos post-fight?
That was horrible. He deserved their respect.
Booing is a crowd's right.
I booed him too. Bad performances don't deserve celebration.
Not the right thing, but the crowd was driven by nationalism.
Burn Vegas down!
Submit Vote vote to see results
Whatever is inside Junior dos Santos, it isn't anything resembling "normal." And make no mistake about it: We may call it courage and sing his praises, but it's horrible for him as a human being. After all, while the ancients may have celebrated warriors in song, the dirge is always about a dead man.

None of that makes it any less admirable. What dos Santos did at UFC 155 is unimaginable. It's easy to picture yourself as Velasquez, the hero who administers the beating, the Jason Statham of the cage, maybe even smirking out a wisecrack or two in the corner after propelling your fists into your enemy's head again and again.

What's harder is imagining yourself as dos Santos. In the midst of your greatest professional failure, in the middle of an extended beating that would have made viewers of Django Unchained grimace, to get back up. Even better, get back up and smile.

Cain Velasquez is a great fighter. But based on what I saw last night, Junior dos Santos is more than that. He's a great man.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...e-true-face-of-courage-in-cain-velasquez-loss
 
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#2 ·
Thanks for your wonderful post,

When you read about what media is saying, you thank that JDS did nothing!!! But when you watch the fight? You know that he did more than anyone could have done!

He took some punches that if they landed on two guys, will KTFOTO !!! And they booed him just becoz hes BRAZILIAN!!

Anyway, Cain is a great fighter, he deserved his win. JDS has to go back and prepare well for his next fight, he did a huge mistake in this fight, I'll talk about it in another post.

Graciace Junior, hard luck man, its only the begining, and congrats to Cain and his lovers.

Both fighters deserve a parade.
 
#3 ·
Appreciate the comment on the post. It's a great read, surprised more havn't posted up on it.

Cain did the same beatdown against all of his other fights resulting in a TKO or KO. JDS withstood it for a very long five rounds. I asked for championships rounds and we got it. The crowd should be happy he gave them their moneys worth!
 
#5 ·
Appreciate the comment on the post. It's a great read, surprised more havn't posted up on it.
This is mma. Guy's only get smashed no one cares about character unless it's a Diaz and used as a way to trash them.

It is very true JDS taking that loss and just standing up and saying he'd be back showed far more than the actual fight.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3
 
#10 ·
Amazing fight for Cigano. I love win streaks and perfect fights as much as anyone, but what I love even more is a true fighter. Junior has fulfilled the streak and perfect fights bit early in his career but now, much as I suspected, he's earned his colors as a warrior at heart. I don't care who you are, this boy is not to be trifled with. Recovering towards the end? Smiling after the fight? Wow.

My new sig's day are limited =)
 
#31 ·
I agree with Clyde when he says JDS maybe don't even remember grabbing the fence. He was so in a walking coma state I believe instincts kicked over and he just grabbed the fence several times. Although we all know it's a plain foul, there's a BIG gap between the scenario in which that happened and to label the guy a straight "cheater".
 
#36 ·
The booing was absolutely bang out of order and I felt horrible for the guy during that post fight interview.

Dos Santos survived five rounds against a relentless Cain Velasquez who gave him no space to breathe what so ever. Where every other single HW would have fallen and succumbed to strikes in the fight, JDS NEVER gave up, and was always trying his heart out.

That's a testament to his true warrior spirit and just proves how skilled of a fighter he really is. People have critiqued Cain for not finishing Dos Santos, but I don't think that's fair. Cain couldn't finish the fight because he was fighting Junior ******* Dos Santos, one of the most elite HW's to ever compete in the sport.

Great fight, terrible audience.
 
#37 ·
Im not the worlds biggest JDS fan but I give it to the guy, he gave it his best shot, just had the wrong game plan, he recognizes what he did wrong, handled the loss with dignity/class, probably learned a couple things about himself during and after the fight. Cain is a bad man, JR took it 5 rds. I think the rubber match will be worth the price. Both guys have good years of fights ahead of them. Im just happy the HW's are fun to watch for a while it seems.. :thumb02:
 
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