Could Junior Dos Santos become the greatest Heavyweight in MMA history?

Before we all get carried away, anyone remember the Machida Era?

Anton would not put a question mark if it is fact.

Well...Junior has a better chance than cain atleast...and he makes the HW division look like waaaaaaaay less of a joke

His point, and I agree, is that it's a little early to be asking the question. I hate when crap like this starts so early- but that's the internet.

Is the Velasquez era over?



I seem to remember similar articles about Cain following his TKO of Lesnar.



Let's see how JDS does defending his belt at least twice, before we start speaking about him being the



"""Greatest Heavyweight in MMA History"""



I think longevity as a title holder in the UFC is very hard to predict, since so many factors come in to play--and styles can really make a difference since there are so many ways to win or lose in MMA.



I really don't believe Cain Velasquez is finished, and perhaps he will have greater success in a rematch. Overeem is a likely contender--and there is also Josh Barnett, Daniel Cormier and others to challenge the new champ.



Let the new champ 'earn' legendary status through consecutive wins.

In your Sysop's defense the question was COULD he BECOME the greatest HW champ ever? Does he have to tools to evolve into that? The answer is yes, he could. Particularly since getting out from under the stifling management at Blackhouse. Think of what Anderson COULD be if he had a good manager. Once I take my belt back I may offer to train him. Imagine that!

The hyperbole of Rogan and Goldberg is rubbing off on all of us. Last night Goldberg said (as he always does): "The most important heavyweight fight in UFC history". Really? Why? A great, exciting fight yes. The best ever (fight or champion) - way too early to say. Could end up like the HLW belt over the last few years - rarely defended.

Interesting couple of points from the TKO last night. JDS hit Vaslequez with the inside of his fist where there is no padding. I'm not implying anything except - ouch. no padding. Also, Cain was defending the lefts he was getting on the ground and was finished by the rights. They hit back of the head. I find that happens a lot in the UFC. Its a soft rule. Again, not trying to take anything away from JDS. Awesome win. Just interesting to watch in slow mo.

nahhhh i just watched it again right now he was hitting the side of the head when they say the back of the head what they really mean is where the skull attached to the spinal column

No. They mean the BACK OF THE HEAD. That is where the vision center of the brain is and if it gets damaged that is it for your career. The base of the skull is also implied in this rule but it is not the sole taboo target or the only reason for the rule.

I saw the video in slo-mo and JDS's looping right bounced off Cain's left shoulder and struck behind the ear as Cain was turning away to avoid the blow.



If you get hit in the back of the head hard, your equilibrium is gone, even if you are still conscious.



I don't believe the rule is soft. The rule is intentional strikes to the back of the head are illegal. When you have a flurry of punches, and the victim is turning his head this way and that way to avoid punches--unintentional hits to the back of the head are inevitable and unavoidable.



The rule is there to prevent the worst case deliberate strikes to the back of the head, but there is no way any rule can reaonably prevent all strikes to the back of the head.



For example, GSP got hit on the back of the head in the Serra fight when he was ducking--not Serra's fault. As a fighter, you have to protect yourself at all times--including the back of the head.

What about Brock getting stood up when frank decided to turn his head?

Still far from being compared to Fedor...jds is great but not goat...@Brucelee, back of the head my a**. Stfu.

Fedor "WAS" the best Heavyweight in the world for so many years, but most of the top HW's would beat him in a fight

That's typical of Brasil. He doesn't go and look at the video or discuss the issue, just start swearing. Nice. Classy. If you ever learn to say something civil and logical feel free to join the discussion.

I think the point Anton was trying to make is the run that JDS went on, and the quality of his opponents, who is the last HW to fight that many top 10's in a row?

before hes the greatest in hw history he needs to fight and beat barnett, cormier, big foot, overeem, karotanav, russo and a handful of top tens in the future that have yet to even start their mma career. not to mention. this is at the very very very least what he needs to do.

weak, come on fedor beat the best of the previous generation of fighters, plus the best of his generation and a few of the new generation of fighters so for me to consider anybody the goat they have to top that an in one solid streak no loses. goat is prime for prime who is the the best not who has the most hype

Yeah add to the list . . . Jeff Monson!

Junior is an amazing fighter for sure, but its too early to say that he is the best

He is the champion so that would make him the best.

He still has to fight overeem or lesnar who ever wins that, then their is Daniel Cormier who is pretty good

and non of them are ranked above JDS.

I wouldn't jump the gun, I expected Cain to get a few title defences if he got past JDS.



All in all both of them could be two of the best ever, considering how poor the division has been for the majority of its existence.

Anton my friend, you are on to something. I can't even argue this.

Best of all time he propably is not the best in UFC yet wath about Overeem i think Fedor stil can KO JDS.Don't forget JDS vs Nelson he was strugling in that fight Arlovski did wath JDS cudn'd do

Anton, im sure that if this fight had happened 1 year ago when Cain was in rhythm and full of confidence JDS would had a tougher fight. i agree that you said before Cain was overhyped but this fight doesnt proof that. The guy had a mayor surgery so you cant judge him on his returning fight. As many especialists on the lowkicks predictions said... that elbow injury is sometimes a career ending injury. So you shouldnt try to make guys that believe that you were right cause we will never know what was the real impact of that surgery and how good did Cain came to this fight.



I can tell that if you compare the staredown with Brock and this one you can tell that he isnt the same fighter.



On the other side i will love to see an article of your other top 10 p4p fighters like Gray maynard, Fitch and Okami.

lets see his wrestling and jits a bit more first, there's no denying hes a great boxer, but 60 second knockouts don't prove much else

JDS is a great Champ .But called him The greatest Heavyweight in MMA history is just too early for that ! If the Champ defend his title over Lesnar , Overeem ,Josh....that would be different story .

Cain maybe due to ring rust out of shape and not explosive like hes get use to be in most of his previous fight but no excuses when came to a fight for "The World Heavyweight Champion main event first time ever on Fox " get paid with sloppy fight is just scrap .IMO

Nope.

i think JDS is great but unless he keeps KOing everyone on the first 2 rounds he is going to get in trouble in some point against a great cardio machine as Cain. Yes Cain got destroyed but that fight could have gone either way. If Junior improves his cardio he is going to be very hard to stop him. But as Junior said on the countdown... before being 18 he never did sports so for him being an athlete is really hard.



Junior and cain for sure are going to be top 10 (or even way better) HW of all time. but for them to try to best what fedor did is like saying that djokovic is going to dethrone federer as the all time best tennis player. In my opinion its going to be a lot of years for anyone dethrone fedor.



also i will never put wins over struve, gonzaga and ivel as big wins. struve wins one fight and then loses the other one. gonzaga got destroyed by everyone on his last days on the ufc. and yvel was even destroyed by a guy like jon madsen in 2 seconds so he isnt that great.



JDS greatest wins were against werdum (was never a top 5), big country that IMO isnt a guy that will defeat a top HW, carwin that came from an injury and cain that came from an injury. i do believe JDS is the real deal but to be at fedors level he needs at least 4 more years undefeated and beating every top HW.

MMA is dying to annoint another baddest man on the planet ( ala Mike Tyson). The problem is, the writers and the promoters are too eager to put the label on just anyone. The fans and bloogers are smart enough to say show me more before we decide. One punch changes a fight but I think Cain would win three out of five. Cigano wonand all credit to him.....Congrats. He is one of the good guys in the sport. Defend twice more then we can have an educated discussion.

Slow down Dana. Anetwork debut on Fox doesn't make the fight the Thrilla in Manilla. This wasn't Ali vs Frasier. It was just a good Heavyweight fight with two rising stars.

I hate judging fighters on knockouts in the first minute of a fight... yes he has amazing finishing instincts but i dont think he will bet the best ever, he needs to mix his game up. Im not a bones nuthugger but ill be honest i saw him after the bonner fight and me and my friend said this guy will be a champ in like 4 years but actually got it alot sooner! i think jones will be the best ever as he is a new breed mma martial artist, he wont be a bjj black belt, muay thai expert or judo champ but he will go dow as the best ever. jon jones will be the best heavy weight evr coz he will be in the division soon. Im not a casual fan or a hardcore fan im actually a fighter myself and i think it takes alot more than a tko in rnd 1 or 2 to be the best, u dont necessairly need to be in a war but u need to be that more convincing in all areas of the game. I Love MMA simple as. also bendo henderson epitomises an exciting, crazy yet technical fighter

JDS the greatest Heavyweight in MMA history after 20 more wins mabe

Hey how about letting Cormier fight in the UFC before we start calling him a heavyweight contender.

how bout that main event.

Last time I checked, the word "become" implies something to do with the future, so the argument isn't if Junior is already the greatest, but could he get there one day.



I think, given the level of Junior's performances, it's a fair question. The biggest criticism I can think from his past fights is that he couldn't finish Big Country, though he did turn him into a human punching bag.



Dos Santos' striking is already good enough to put him among the sport's elite. And his take down defense is very good.



I think the big question is, when someone does manage to put him on his back, and keep him there, how will he react?

He gasses out. He will get taken into deep waters and drown. So, no, not the greatest.

I think this fight didn't really prove anything. I don't want to say Junior got a lucky punch on Cain either. Cain did say that he waited too long and Junior took the chance. But I blame Cain's loss on ring rust, surgery, and a hell of a lot of pressure on his shoulders.



Oh yea, I find Junior's walking towards the middle of the ring and giving a thumbs down gesture to his opponent extremely disrespectful. Humble? Yeah right. I don't see him holding on to that belt for very long.

@ Crainstyle,

Your argument is both sound and has merit. Good points. Roy nelsons head is like granite so there is no shame in not knocking him out. Time will tell what happens with the heavyweight division, I have a feeling it will end up like the light heavyweight division has been for years, as pointed out but others above. Big boys knock each other out or gas.

The UFC is riddled with countless Heavyweight champs. The only ones that have defended for any period are Ande Arlosk i( who has no chin now) Tim Sylvia ( who was never that good) Couture( who was always a light heavyweigh)t, and Paul buentello who just faded, had a resurgence against weaker competition elsewhere and faded again,.

Mir had the potential to be great but the motorcyccle accident hurt his career. Forget coleman. he was at the end when he won. Name me a three time defending heavyweight in UFC history please?

Everytime someone wins a UFC there always follows an article oozing their praise and whether they will be the greatest. Brock had it. Cain had it. Machida had it. Rua had it. Jones has it but I think it's warranted in his case. Aldo had it but now some question it.



The fact is any GOAT is always subjective. Take boxing. There's a handful of names you could put out there that have been debated and argued over for years, all with strong arguments to why they are or are NOT the greatest.



Who cares though really? We all love to tune in to see talented guys apply their skills. I reckon there's probably 100 fights+ that have gone under the radar in MMA where two opponents have been closely matched and in doing so their full array of skills have been tested and displayed in brilliant fashion, rather than a dominant win due to fluke or being outmatched. We never here about these fights (partly due to Dana giving FON bonuses to most bloody not technical brilliance) but always about who is the greatest. MMA is a young sport with new styles taking over old styles and the art being learned and improved upon from one generation to the next. this is evident in the LHW, LW and HW divisions whose champions all have vastly different styles but who have learned them so well they are champion.



There are certain fighters who appear to have such dominance and talent we think them untouchable, Fedor being a good example. Machida another. But they are only human and in this game anything can happen any given night.