I think if you blinked you missed it… Junior dos Santos defeated Cain Velasquez to win the UFC heavyweight championship Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, in the debut of UFC on FOX. Â Read more after the jump.
Dos Santos dropped Velasquez with a sharp right and followed up with a barrage that stopped the fight in the first round.
The fight marks UFC’s network debut as part of a seven-year deal with FOX. The main event was originally scheduled to headline next Saturday’s UFC 139 card, but was moved up to headline the initial FOX broadcast. Each fighter entered with an unblemished record in UFC competition.
Velasquez last fought October 2010 at UFC 121 at the same arena as Saturday’s contest. He won via a first-round TKO over Brock Lesnar, but Velasquez sustained a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder that required surgery. Dos Santos has quickly risen through the heavyweight ranks since the Brazilian’s first fight stateside three years ago, including a victory by decision over Shane Carwin at UFC 131 in June.
The 6-foot-1 Velasquez weighed in at 249 pounds on Friday, while the 6-foot-4 dos Santos came in at 239.
There were eight fights on the undercard before the main event got underway. Benson Henderson defeated Clay Guida by unanimous decision in the undercard headliner, which is expected to lead to a shot at UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar when the UFC returns to Japan on Feb. 25.
Dustin Poirier moved toward featherweight contention with a submission win over Pablo Garza, while Ricardo Lamas came back after falling behind early to submit Cub Swanson in their featherweight encounter.
DeMarques Johnson scored a first-round TKO just 1:34 into the first round of his welterweight bout when he knocked his opponent Clay Harvison to the canvas and pounced on him, raining strikes down before the referee called the bout to a halt.
In his first UFC bout, Darren Uyenoyama beat MMA legend Kid Yamamoto by decision in a bantamweight bout. Robert Peralta scored a third-round TKO over Mackens Semerzier in a featherweight encounter, while Alex Caceres, Mike Pierce and Aaron Rosa all scored victories in their bouts.
