Cain-JDS III is next, Tate replaces Zingano for TUF 18
Published on Wednesday, 5/29/13, at 10:30 a.m. Eastern.
By Brian Edwards
Cain Velasquez defended his heavyweight belt for the first time Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, trouncing Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva for the second time with a first-round knockout as a -750 ‘chalk.’
Bettors taking ‘under’ 1.5 rounds in the main event cashed a winner at a -110 price.
Velasquez finished Silva at the 1:21 mark of the opening round. According to reports on Tuesday, Velasquez took home a $400,000 paycheck (which does not include his cut from pay-per-view sales).
The champ’s next opponent will undoubtedly be Junior dos Santos in what will be the rubber match between these two fighters. Both have handed the other their only career losses inside the Octagon.
Dos Santos prevailed in his co-main event matchup versus Mark Hunt by finishing the former K-1 champ with a spinning heel kick similar to the move used by Vitor Belfort in his win over Luke Rockhold a week earlier in Brazil.
Dos Santos won by third-round KO as a -400 favorite. Gamblers taking ‘over’ 1.5 rounds at a -160 price cashed an easy winner.
BrianEdwardsSports.com scored Rounds 1 and 2 in favor of JDS, who floored Hunt with a huge overhand right midway through the first round. However, Hunt showed his toughness by bouncing right back up. Nevertheless, the best punch of the stanza was enough to tilt it toward JDS on the scorecard.
The second round was filled with stand-up exchanges. There had been speculation that Dos Santos would try to take the fight to the ground, but instead he chose to show that he was the better boxer.
Hunt had his moments and was a threat at all times, but JDS got our nod in the second stanza thanks to landing more strikes. It was late in the third round when JDS landed the spinning heel kick that floored Hunt, and then the former champ followed up with a right-hand bomb before the referee intervened.
With the winners slated to meet, there’s no reason not to match Hunt up against Bigfoot in the next bout for these heavyweights.
Glover Teixeira got a quick finish of James Te Huna at the 2:38 mark of the first round with a guillotine choke. Teixeira elevated his status in the light heavyweight mix and could be situated for a title-eliminator matchup.
Teixeira hooked up his backers as a -320 ‘chalk.’ Gamblers taking the ‘under’ scored a nice payout in the +150 range (risk $100 to win $150).
T.J. Grant will get the next shot at lightweight kingpin Benson ‘Smooth’ Henderson following his upset win over Gray Maynard by first-round KO. The 34-year-old Maynard, whose only previous career loss had come to Frankie Edgar by fourth-round KO, was trying to earn a third career shot at the 155-pound strap after nearly wearing it twice.
Grant hooked up his supporters with a +170 return (risk $100 to win $170).
In the pay-per-view opener, Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone bloodied up K.J. Noons on his way to an easy decision victory as a healthy -290 favorite. The ‘over’ 2.5 rounds was a winner at a -135 price.
**Octagon Extras**
–Following his loss to Vitor Belfort in his UFC debut, Luke Rockhold wants to fight Michael Bisping next and he took to Twitter over Memorial Day Weekend to voice his desire to face the Brit. Rockhold is the former Strikeforce middleweight champ, while Bisping has been a contender in the UFC’s 185-pound loop for many years.
–At the UFC 160 postfight media scrum, Dana White stated that he wants B.J. Penn to retire. “He’s too tough for his own good.” Former champions Forrest Griffin and Matt Serra announced their retirements last week.
–Chad Mendes vs. Clay Guida is booked for a 145-pound tussle at UFC 164 in Milwaukee.
–Miesha Tate has replaced the injured Cat Zingano as a coach opposite of Ronda Rousey for Season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter. Filming for this season’s show began on Tuesday. Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports broke the news last night.
–Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson won a unanimous decision over Nah-Shon Burrell to improve to 2-1 in the UFC. Thompson, the kickboxing specialist who trains in Greenville, South Carolina, won KO of the Night in his Octagon debut but lost to Matt Brown in his second trip into the cage.
—Click here for all of the UFC 160 results courtesy of VegasInsider.com.
