UFC 160: May 25, 2013 MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada UFC Heavyweight Title Fight UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez (-585) Profile: Cain Velasquez (11-1) rebounded from his first career loss to Junior dos Santos by registering a first-round TKO of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 146. The 30-year-old Mexican-American then destroyed dos Santos in winning their rematch at UFC 155 via unanimous decision to reclaim the UFC heavyweight title. Velasquez was previously stunned by dos Santos with a knockout at 1:04 of the first round in their first fight at UFC on FOX 1 after looking nearly unbeatable in winning his first nine MMA fights. He returned to his dominant form against dos Santos the second time around and now faces another rematch against Silva for the heavyweight title belt at UFC 160. Ten of the champion’s first 12 bouts have ended by TKO/KO, and he originally earned the belt with a first-round TKO of Brock Lesnar at UFC 121. UFC #1 Heavyweight Contender Antonio Silva (+385) Profile: Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (18-4) could not have fought much better in his last two bouts after losing to heavyweight champ Velasquez via first-round TKO in his UFC debut at UFC 146. First, Silva rebounded from that loss to Velasquez by knocking out Travis Browne in the first round at UFC on FX 5. Then, he stunned Alistair Overeem with a third-round KO at UFC 156 to earn the right for a rematch with Velasquez, only this time it will be for the title belt. Before falling to Velasquez in their first fight, Silva lost to eventual Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix champion Daniel Cormier by first-round KO in the tournament semifinals on September 10, 2011. The 33-year-old Brazilian may be best-known for handing MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko one of three consecutive losses in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix quarterfinals by TKO. Opening UFC 160 Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made the champ Velasquez a huge -585 favorite (bet $585 to win $100) while the challenger Silva opened as a +385 underdog (bet $100 to win $385) at Several Bookmakers sportsbook. In the first matchup between these two heavyweights at UFC 146, Velasquez opened at -400 with Silva +300. It will be almost exactly a year ago to the day that they last battled in the co-main event, and a lot has obviously changed since then. Not only did Velasquez get his revenge for his lone career defeat at the hands of dos Santos, but he has also evolved into one of the top pound-for-pound MMA fighters in the world. Silva’s back-to-back performances since then have rightfully earned him a title shot as well. Nobody expected him to fight like he did against Browne and Overeem, as he was an underdog in both bouts yet prevailed with statement knockouts each time. Can he do it once more when he faces the champ? The odds say otherwise, especially since Velasquez not only pounded Bigfoot in the first meeting but also showed great discipline in beating up dos Santos. What we do not know about Silva is whether or not he is capable of grinding out a victory over five rounds of a championship fight. We know he is fully capable of knocking out anybody if he is able to land the right punch. But Velasquez is the best conditioned heavyweight on the planet and will likely be the aggressor and push the pace in a way Silva has never seen before, just like he did en route to winning the belt back from dos Santos.
