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UFC 131 in Vancouver: Junior dos Santos now advances to face Cain Velasquez

By Zach Arnold | June 11, 2011

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Dark matches/TV prelims

Main card

Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 70 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

70 Responses to “UFC 131 in Vancouver: Junior dos Santos now advances to face Cain Velasquez”

  1. Nepal says:

    This card isn’t that interesting beyond the headliner. Actually I’m curious about the 2nd fight. I met Einemo at PRIDE 34 in Japan and hung out with him for a few hours. Very cool guy. He’s training in Pattaya (Thailand) with Overeem and some of the other Golden Glory guys. Obviously he’s helping Overeem on his ground game and Overeem and the rest of GG are getting his stand up going. I even put some money on Einemo, at +250 it seems like a reasonable bet. As long as Carwin doesn’t put his lights out and if he gets Carwin to the ground, I guessing he’ll make short work of Carwin down there. Overeem is a far better striker than Carwin and with Einemo training with Overeem, Carwin should be a breeze, lol.

    I’m looking forward to seeing Beltran vs. Herman and of course watching Maia wrap up Munoz in short order. Otherwise a pretty meh card.

  2. Light23 says:

    Please tell me Monson/Cormier isn’t on the main card instead of King Mo or JZ.

  3. mr. roadblock says:

    UFC 131 was a total 1 fight card, banking on Brock. I was thinking of going up to BC for it. Even though Carwin/JDS is as good of a fight I think I’ll just watch it on TV.

    The Strikeforce 6.18 card is loaded, minus the Carano fight which I have no use for.

    King Mo vs OSP is a real interesting fight.

  4. 45 Huddle says:

    They have really loaded the Strikeforce card.

  5. edub says:

    How in the world are all those SF fights on 6/18 gonna get aired?

    • mr. roadblock says:

      I thought the same thing.

      Worst fight of the bunch is Carano.

      I’m interested in Calvan/Wilcox and hope it airs.

      I figure they’ll air the two HW alternate fights. But maybe not. It would be strange to show one and not both of them.

      But if you show the 2 main tourney fights plus the alternate fights and the Carano fight it will be a 6 fight broadcast w/ King Mo vs OSP. I see no way you can leave King Mo vs OSP out.

      • edub says:

        Agreed. Every fight on this card has an argument for being aired. The only fight everybody seems to agree that shouldn’t is the Carano fight and we all know that is definitely gonna be aired. Unless something changes one of these fights is gonna get screwed.

  6. David m says:

    Reem v Werdum is going to be awesome

  7. Chromium says:

    Zach, I’m pretty sure neither King Mo nor OSP are on the next StrikeForce card. At least according to Sherdog, OSP is facing Feijao and King Mo is facing Roger Gracie next, both on the Fedor vs. Henderson card in July. However, KJ Noons vs. Jorge Masvidal is on the Overeem vs. Werdum card as far as I know, and Jason High vs. Quinn Muldern is scheduled for the Challengers card.

    I will have to hand it to Sean Shelby, the additions made to these cards are all really good. Monson is an excellent addition to StrikeForce’s deepest division.

  8. kutti says:

    what happened to brock shrek lesnar ? did i miss something ?

    • The Gaijin says:

      Really?

      I’ll give the benefit of the doubt that this isn’t a sarcastic/trolling question and summarize:

      There was an announcement last week that Lesnar’s diverticulitis is back and really hampering his health, so he pulled out of the fight with JDS and is most likely going to opt for corrective surgery. So he’s on the shelf for the next while and his career might be over.

      • Black Dog says:

        Lesnar apparently has had another flareup of his diverticulitis, and this is not uncommon. What may need to occur for Brock is a change or alteration of his medications. Another surgery is probably not necessary, unless the severity of the flare warrants it.

        What Lesnar puts his body through in workouts may no longer be practical; he may well have to alter his workout methods as well.

        In any case, his new book has dropped. I am sure Lesnar doesn’t want to stop fighting, but time will tell what his body can take.

  9. Stel says:

    Strikeforce still not on ppv? They have a much better card.

  10. Fighing Onion says:

    The Vancouver card looks like junk. I guess the Canadians will buy anything.

  11. 45 Huddle says:

    Gina Carano was not medically cleared by a doctor. My guess is either a broken hand or a bun in the oven. Perhaps it’s Obi-Wan Kenobi’s? They did recently shoot a movie together!!

    Noons vs. Masvidal was pushed to the main card. Which should have been on the main card anyways.

    This is a huge blow to female MMA. To me, Carano is the one thing keeping the ladies afloat. If she has issues fighting, Zuffa won’t hesitate to get rid of them once the full merger happens.

    • edub says:

      Honesly, I feel bad for her. I do. But this only made the card that much better IMO. Noons-Masvidal should be a great fight.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        I have zero interest in female MMA. And the Noons/Masvidal fight was really the only one I wanted to see from the undercard. So I’m happy.

    • RossenSearchTeam says:

      If they could get Carano to do some interviews or hold up some cards or something I’d be just as satisfied.

      I guess he’s a pretty good fighter, which is hot, but I mostly just like to look at her.

      • RossenSearchTeam says:

        Oops, “she’s”.

        🙂

        Well that was kind of equal opportunity I guess, unintentionally.

  12. 45 Huddle says:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KptYe_yLCIg&NR=1

    For anybody who wants to watch the “Facebook” Prelims somewhere else…. YouTube is also broadcasting them.

    Another example of Dana White fully understanding the power of the internet.

    And YouTube is coming to XBOX 360…. I wonder if they can be streamed over the TV this way…. Would be nice….

  13. edub says:

    PBF is fighting Victor Ortiz. Great fight and all, but WHY THE FUCK CAN”T YOU FIGHT MANNY? That fight isn’t gonna happen until one is over the hill. SO shitty. Sorry for cussing.

    • The Gaijin says:

      This a thousand times. I knew he was going to take the Ortiz fight…knew it.

      PBF has ZERO interest in fighting Manny…he’s too worried about his “0”.

    • RossenSearchTeam says:

      I like Pacman (the Filipino’s are my people), but isn’t he the one that is refusing testing up to the day of the fight?

      Maybe its an primidonna demand from that twit Maywether, but if he’ll do it too then why not agree to it just to make the fight happen?

      Is it really that important to slam some steroids before the fight?

      Boxing is silly.

      By itself its cool, but its reached a “maturity” level were its become politics instead of a sport.

      • edub says:

        Well now it’s all about who you believe. During the last set of negotiations it was reported that pacman said fuck it, and just agreed to everything just to make the fight happen (and all Mayweather had to do was sign the contract). Even the HBO president Ross Greenberg sided with Arum and Top Tank in this report. De La Hoya even announced the fight as a done deal, before it was reported that fight negotiations broke down again. The negotiations moderator said that negotaitions were happening (again, before they broke down).

        Mayweather’s side then reported that no negotiations happened whatsoever, so it’s all about which side you believe.

        Personally, I don’t think PBF and his side have any credibility.

        • RossenSearchTeam says:

          Interesting.
          I hadn’t heard about Pac agreeing to it.

          Pac always seemed like he was the one who wanted it to happen the most so I was a little confused when I heard that he had declined that silly demand.

          “I don’t think PBF and his side have any credibility.”

          Thats the consistent impression I get from everything I’ve heard from or about him.

        • The Gaijin says:

          What edub said. Greenberg actually issued a four-paragraph release siding with Arum and Top Rank and all but saying PBF was wasting everyone’s time and not legitimately interested.

          If the USADA testing were the sole reason, then I’d say there’s a lot of mutual blame on Pacquiao, but from everything I’ve read he was ready to cede to the request (so long as PBF was subject to the same requirements/tests and given that Moseley and now Ortiz have agreed to them, I bet it’s not even an issue for Pacquiao) and this is just one of the many stunts PBF has pulled to sabotage negotiations for the “nth” time. Last I read he asked for $10mm just to sit back down at the bargaining table and said that $65mm guaranteed wasn’t enough…so kind of shows you how “interested” he is in signing on for this fight.

          My next guess is that PBF requests Trojan Condoms is the fight’s headline sponsor and appears on Manny’s trunks.

        • edub says:

          Giaj- Hahahaha or advertising for the nuva ring. Anything that involves some type of birth control.

        • The Gaijin says:

          @edub – LOL…exactly.

          And I should clarify, I unfortunately put words in Greenburg’s mouth, he’s obviously going to be much more measured and diplomatic about PBF’s “negotiations” and/or existence of said negotiations. I was confusing his release with Kevin Iole’s commentary on said statement (http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slug=ki-floydducking072710) *shudders that I ever reference Kevin Iole* And to make me feel a little better, here’s another article from SI (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/chris_mannix/07/27/mayweather.pacquiao/)

        • mr. roadblock says:

          Bob Arum says Floyd turned down $65mil to fight Manny.

          source: http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=28235&more=1

          Bottom line is Floyd is scared of Manny.

          That said Floyd vs Victor Ortiz is a fight I’m looking forward to.

          I was hoping Manny would fight Ortiz instead of the other stupid fights he was looking at. Manny vs Marquez III at 147lbs doesn’t do much for me. Just like Manny vs Shane Mosley didn’t.

          I’m a huge PacMan fan. But he needs to stop fighting old guys. Let’s see him in with Ortiz, Maidana, Saul Alvarez is too young now but maybe next year, Paul Williams or any of the guys from 140 coming up.

        • edub says:

          I don’t think PBF or Manny would ever take a chance against Paul Williams. Both have never even mentioned his name for possible opponents, and after the huge KO loss to Martinez he lacks the value.

          A mexican billionaire offered Manny 65 mill to fight Saul ALvarez in Mexico. That would be a blood bath I think. Supernatural speed vs. below average speed.

          I honestly wanted to see Ortiz-Manny more than this (Ortiz-Mayweather), but this is a pretty damn good fight too. Ortiz has been a favorite of mine for a while (even after the “I shouldn’t be taking this punishment” speech).

          Manny should be fighting JMM at 140 or below. 144 is not low enough to let JMM be competitive IMO, but who knows. I didn’t think he had a chance in the second fight either.

    • The Gaijin says:

      Having already coming to terms with the fact that Manny-PBF is not going to happen anytime soon, I’m at least quite pleased with this fight. It’s probably the best fight they can make for Floyd (other than the fight that shall not be named).

  14. RossenSearchTeam says:

    Wow, is the next UFC this weekend already?!

    The way these things keep hitting us almost every two weeks sure is a buffer to salve those turkey cards.

    Basically at worst we seem to get 5-6 great fights every month one way or the other and a truck load of grab bag.

    Not bad.

    If MMA is successfully sustaining this pace, as they have been for a year or two now, then I’d say the sport is doing alright.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      It’s 2 weeks from the last PPV, but for the first 6 months of 2011, there has only been 1 month that has had 2 PPV’s… And that was February… And Fitch/Penn was an easily skippable card…

      • RossenSearchTeam says:

        I remember when seeing a UFC 3 or 4 times a year was an healthy impressive pace.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          I wouldn’t even mind a weekly show…

          But more then 1 PPV a month is gauging the fans. I would really prefer 12 “big” cards a year with 6 to 8 of them being on PPV, and the other 4 to 6 being on Network TV.

          But I dream too much….

  15. cutch says:

    Gina Carano is off the Strikeforce card because she failed a medical examination and KJ Noons vs Jorge Masvidal will now be on the Showtime broadcast.

  16. 45 Huddle says:

    According to Steve Marrocco of junkie…

    “Amending earlier tweet re: Gina’s non-clearance per “doctors.” Just spoke with Texas commish, and they said she was cleared to fight.”

    • RossenSearchTeam says:

      Matters for sales/views of THAT show, but it doesn’t really matter as far as “WMMA” or Gina’s fighting career for her to rush back before she’s ready.

      (Or before she ever wants to.)

      There’s no hurry IMO.

      “A hesitant fighter is an injury waiting to happen.”

    • Steve4192 says:

      “Just spoke with Texas commish, and they said she was cleared to fight.”

      The Texas commission would clear a cadaver to fight. Just one more example of how incompetent/corrupt that commission is.

  17. RossenSearchTeam says:

    “unfortunate setback”

    Is that a… lyrical euphemism for knocked up?

    (Or for a Man, knocking somebody up.)

  18. edub says:

    Rampage video on Norm MacDonald Sports show. He gave it the Cosby head shake.

  19. The Gaijin says:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7IBQTM3Pto&feature=player_embedded

    Marcelo Garcia with a special “shout out” after his gold medal win at the JJ-world cup!

  20. The Gaijin says:

    While he’s a replacement opponent, glad to see Cerrone continues to be well tested in the UFC.

  21. 45 Huddle says:

    Predictions.

    Shane Carwin – I think his power and wrestling ability will be too much for Dos Santos.

    Mark Munoz – This is really a 55/45 fight for me. It’s not a secure pick. But I think Munoz has enough power and the ability to keep the fight off the ground. That’s why I’m picking him.

    Kenny Florian – Not only do I think Florian will win, but he will look great in doing so. In a perfect world…. Florian wins and is the next to fight Jose Aldo. Hatsu Hioki signs on and fights once to get exposure before fighting for the title. And then by then, Chad Mendes will have a few more fights and enough experience to really challenge for the title. I know that is sort of screwing over Mendes, but Florian and Hioki deserve title shots more. The UFC could always put on Hioki/Mendes as a #1 contenders fight. Either way, they have options, and that division is really looking good.

    Donald Cerrone – I don’t know about his opponent, but I have been impressed by Cerrone’s progress lately.

    Dave Herman – I’ve never really seen Einemo fight, but hecame in looking chubby and not in the best shape. So yes, I’m basing my prediction off of what I saw in the weigh-ins.

    As for the rest of the card, I don’t have that much interest in it. I could care less about guys like Edwards, Stout, Soszynski, and Beltran who we know are lower tier UFC fighters for the rest of their careers.

    I am slightly interested in seeing how Nick Rick & Chris Weidman look. See if they are progressing in their fighting…

  22. 45 Huddle says:

    The YouTube Prelim feed is much much better then the Facebook version.

  23. 45 Huddle says:

    Joe Rogan is off to a horrible start.

    His commentating for the Omigawa fight was horrible. He was talking like Omigawa was dominating the fight.

    Yet he lost the first round and the 2nd round was razor close.

    I thought it was actually a good decision.

    • edub says:

      He was jobbed. The first round could have gone either way. He pretty much dominated from there on out.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        Omigawa didn’t dominate anything. He barely did anything the entire fight.

        And that’s the problem with these Japanese fighters coming over. They just are not active enough and it’s not impressive. They don’t fight to finish.

        • edub says:

          But Elkins did? He was on the defensive even while being countered repeatedly. His face was destroyed. Omigawa was the rightful winner of that fight, and the judges screwed the pooch.

        • smoogy says:

          LOL, Elkins was circling from 6ft away like he was scared for his life, to the point that Omigawa just stopped in R3 and threw his arms up in bewilderment. He beat the will to fight out of his opponent, too bad judges (and you) can’t see that.

  24. david m says:

    Einemo has a lot of hype behind him; I have heard some things about him from people who have trained with him that make him sound like an absolute animal, but he doesn’t look to be in great physical shape and is certainly rusty. Herman is a great athlete; this should be a hell of a fight.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      And what a boring first round… And what an absolutely amazing 2nd round.

      The is often a size that is “too big” for the Heavyweight Division. That is why Carwin slimmed down. So did Lesnar slightly. Einemo was so much bigger naturally then Herman, but it was more of a hinderance.

      It’s why a Cruiserweight Division is such a waste.

  25. 45 Huddle says:

    I thought Maia vs. Munoz was a pickem fight going in. And after the fight either deserved the victory. The first round was Maia. Second was Munoz. 3rd was a complete toss up.

    So whoever won wasn’t a big deal.

    The judge who had it 30-27 should never judge again.

    • david m says:

      Holy god. 30-27. That legitimately is the worst scoring of a non-Leonard Garcia fight I have ever heard of. I thought 3rd round should have been scored a draw and the fight should have as well. Great fight.

    • edub says:

      Agreed. How that first round isn’t scored for Maia is beyond me.

  26. 45 Huddle says:

    Jose Aldo vs. Kenny Florian

    Should be a good fight. As long as Florian fixes a few small mechanical things in his striking, he will win that fight.

    • david m says:

      Kenny has no speed. Aldo is going to embarrass him.

      On a side note, I have no idea how 2 judges scored first round between J2S and Carwin 10-9; he literally took 5 pints of blood from him. What does one have to do to get a 10-8? MMA judging sucks so bad. It is unbelievable to me that a round where one guy is beaten almost to death, where the fight should be stopped, can be as important cumulatively on the scorecards as a round like round 3 of Maia-Munoz.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        It was one of those events were the judging was absolute garbage, yet in most fans eyes, it only effected the outcome of the Omigawa fight.

        JDS/Carwin Round 1 was a definitive 10-8 round. Not even questionable.

  27. Kyle says:

    Two judges didn’t think the first round of Carwin vs. Dos Santos was a 10-8 round.

  28. 45 Huddle says:

    Overall it was a fun event.

    The judging was absolutely horrible. It really didn’t ruin any of the results, but some of the scorecards were beyond bad. A judge giving the first round for Munoz? Only 1 judge giving the first round 10-8 for JDS?

    I think Cain Velasquez can beat Junior Dos Santos. They are both 7-0 in the UFC….

    Cain needs to avoid getting too much damage in the first round like what happened to Shane Carwin. Cain has much much much better cardio to JDS. JDS definitively slowed down in the last 2 rounds against Nelson and Carwin.

    Velasquez would have to avoid the bad first round and then just grind out the rest of the fight. And I think by the championship rounds, he could stop JDS.

    • david m says:

      Kongo, the stiffest striker in the history of mma, was able to drop Cain multiple times. If Carwin can’t keep J2S down, I don’t see Cain doing it. On the feet he is toast. Cain is like 6’0 and has about 220 pounds of good weight. J2S is much bigger, stronger, almost as fast, has a better chin, and a much longer reach. He is hell to take down, hell to keep down, and showed some awesome shots of his own. I think he would put Cain down ala Kongo, except, he would finish the job.

      What are the cardio issues you are talking about with J2S? He looked absolutely fantastic in the third round against Carwin.

  29. CapnHulk says:

    I don’t know about you guys, but I think that was one of the best UFC events in a long while.

  30. Nepal says:

    I had to laugh at Rogan. He was talking about how good Florian looked. Florian certainly lost that first round to Nunes. Florian won rounds 2 and 3 but Nunes was gassed. Nunes had some cardio issues. If he didn’t, that would have been a different fight. Florian looked crap. Things don’t look good for Florian’s future.

    Interesting reading the article on Jon Chaimberland saying Kenny’s power and strength have increased despite losing 10 pounds.

  31. RossenSearchTeam says:

    IMO, Junior Dos Santos is a BETTER boxer then Shane Carwin!

    And I stand behind this absolute asertion!

    (JDS sure beat on My boy Carwins face!)

    If I was Carwin, I would have tackled JDS and worked from there.

  32. RossenSearchTeam says:

    I’m so happy about Pee Wee.

    He didn’t look so great in the first round, he looked good, got some Thai knee frequent flier miles in, but he looked a little stiff. He stands too upright IMO. But he did loosen up in the second.

    But he has so much fun in there!

    Thats whats so awesome about him.
    He’s just having a good time, he cant smiling about it, and it makes him fun to watch.

    He’s going to have to figure out how to come out of the gate faster, he wont have until round 2 to warm up against the top guys, but this was his UFC debut.

    Velasquez was much slower and stiffer in his first UFC fights then when he KO’d Nog.

    I think Pee Wee will be fine.

    • RossenSearchTeam says:

      BTW: Einemo looked pretty good himself. Especially after that kind of layoff.

      He should be kept on IMO.

      Send Rosa and Beltran to SF so we can watch that kind of stuff for free (we did, but still), and keep Einemo.

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