Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos is now over two weeks removed from his title loss at UFC 155, thanks to a five-round beatdown at the hands of Cain Velasquez back on Dec. 29, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
See the video here.
Some mixed martial arts (MMA) fans were surprised to see "Cigano" outclassed on his feet when it was his opponent's wrestling that was initially expected to be his greatest threat. So what were the contributing factors in the Brazilian's loss?
UOL Esporte has it straight from the horse's mouth:
"Really was my head. I had some personal things going on, a bit of my attention was lacking because of it. And another thing. Soon after the fight I went to the hospital and had a scan, which showed my creatine was too high. The normal level is up to 300, mine was in 1400. I also had trouble in the urine and kidneys. The explanation of the doctors is that I pushed over the line, I over trained, and problems could have happened even before the fight... I was so good that I ended up crossing the line. That was the explanation of doctors. Mine is that I was not good with my head, was having personal problems and did not go well mentally in the fight. Going forward I will be more careful, it will take my body to the limit all the time. I need to know how my body is reacting to what I am doing. We need to be a bit more professional about it. I will do tests during preparation. This fight also taught me that we have to be stronger with the head, think things strategy and better monitor the tactical part."
And let's not forget about Mexican fists, as they also proved to be a contributing factor.
The loss was Dos Santos' first inside the Octagon and just the second of his professional career. With Alistair Overeem waiting in the wings (assuming he can step on "Bigfoot" Silva at UFC 156), "Cigano" may need a handful of decisive wins before he can punch his ticket to a Velasquez rubber match.
By then, let's hope he has those existing problems under control.