UFC 155: Velasquez recaptures heavyweight title

One big right hand changed the landscape of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight division yet again.

Cain Velasquez reclaimed the belt he lost to Junior dos Santos 13 months ago with a one-sided unanimous decision Saturday night in the rematch that served as the main event of UFC 155 at the MGM Grand Garden.

"I promised my wife I would bring her this as her Christmas gift," Velasquez said as he proudly held up the belt in the middle of the cage.

Dos Santos knocked out Velasquez 64 seconds into the first meeting with a right hand that landed behind his ear.

Velasquez didn't finish off dos Santos with his big shot, but he landed a right hook against the cage midway through the first round that changed the course of the fight.

Early on, Velasquez continually came forward looking to follow punches with takedown attempts. Dos Santos shrugged off most of them, and even when Velasquez got a takedown, the champion popped right back up.

That changed after Velasquez's big shot. Dos Santos went right to the ground, and Velasquez followed, landing punches from the top position. Dos Santos could do nothing but cover up, and each time he tried to get back up, Velasquez threw him back down and continued the assault.

The second round was more of the same, as a staggering dos Santos was taken down at will. Dos Santos mounted brief attacks in the final three rounds, but Velasquez stayed in control, landing punches and elbows on his way to winning all five rounds.

The judges awarded him the fight 50-45, 50-44, 50-43.

"His game is very effective, and tonight he was better than me," dos Santos said. "He walked forward, and his grappling game is very good. Congratulations to him."

Lightweights Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon put on an even more entertaining show. Lauzon's face was covered in blood after he took a pounding in the first round, but he nearly rallied to earn a decision after surviving the full 15 minutes.

Lauzon and Miller received standing ovations after each round. Despite Miller's early dominance, Lauzon had enough left to try several submissions, including two close attempts in the final 15 seconds.

Miller won 29-28 on all three cards.

The three main-card middleweight fights produced few highlights.

Tim Boetsch appeared to break his hand in the first round and then suffered an eye poke and a massive cut due to a head butt before suffering his first loss in five tries at 185 pounds. Costa Philippou finished off a wounded Boetsch with a series of right hands on the ground in the third round. The win was Philippou's fifth straight.

Yushin Okami and Derek Brunson each won unanimous decisions but didn't do much to excite the viewers.

Okami used his strength edge to control Alan Belcher for nearly the full 15 minutes.

Brunson did mostly the same thing, though not to the same level, against Chris Leben, who was returning from a one-year suspension after testing positive for pain pills. Leben didn't mount much offense against the debuting Brunson until late in the third round when both fighters were exhausted.

Erik Perez and Todd Duffee had the undercard's lone knockout victories.

Perez, one of the bantamweight division's top prospects, and along with Velasquez a key to the UFC's hopes of increasing its profile in Mexico, earned his third straight first-round win with a knockout of Byron Bloodworth in 3:50.

Duffee made a triumphant return to the UFC with a knockout of Phil De Fries in 2:04, more than two years after Duffee's promising future with the organization seemingly was derailed when he was fired for an "attitude problem." Still just 27, the heavyweight is back on track and apparently back in the good graces of UFC management.

John Moraga secured the undercard's lone submission with a third-round guillotine choke finish of Chris Cariaso in a flyweight bout.

The four other preliminary fights all went the distance, with three resulting in split decisions.

Max Holloway's win over Leonard Garcia in a featherweight bout was the most controversial of the split verdicts.

Jamie Varner picked apart Melvin Guillard in a lightweight bout with high expectations that didn't materialize until late.

Also, bantamweight Eddie Wineland rocked Brad Pickett in the first round and held on for a split decision.

Lightweight Myles Jury took down Michael Johnson at will and controlled him on the ground to win the only unanimous decision on the undercard in a matchup of former "The Ultimate Fighter" contestants.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.