Velasquez came out as his usual self tonight; highly aggressive and looking to implement his will. Much like he did against Brock Lesnar to capture the title and in his most recent fight with Antonio “Big Foot” Silva. Velasquez was firing off punches and looking to take the fight to the ground. Velasquez shot for numerous singles that the then champ was able to pull his leg out of the way of. Velasquez finally got JDS down midway through the first round after he dropped him with a right hand. From there on Velasquez showed the wrestling skills that made him a two time All-American and two time Pac-10 champion at Arizona State University.

Cain smothered JDS with ground and pound and wrestling never giving him any space for pretty much the rest of the 25 minutes that these two men fought. Velasquez fought of a knee bar early and even tried for an arm-bar late in the second round against the black belt BJJ artist. The rest of the fight was more of the same as Velasquez would get the take down beat on dos Santos for a little bit; dos Santos would get up to his feet and Cain would be all over him against the fence working another take down. When they would look to stand and strike it was Velasquez who would be getting the advantage and dos Santos would back up as Cain came forward until he was pinned against the cage again.  Dos Santos was able to land some punches but he didn’t look like he had much on them as he was clearly in trouble in the first. For the next four rounds dos Santos looked extremely exhausted as he was spending most of the time supporting not only his 239 pounds but also the 240 of Velasquez who was all over him.

Velasquez connected with a high kick to the throat of JDS in the last round and another big take down to put a stamp on the evening and take the unanimous decision with scores of 50-45, 50-43, and 50-44 from the judges. With the win the now two-time heavyweight champion moves his record to 11-1 and revenges the 64 second loss of his belt. While Junior dos Santos record now stands at 15-2 and ends a ten fight win streak in his first defeat in the UFC.

“I knew that Junior was a tough striker and he was able to end our last fight that way, so I was prepared for him this time,” said Cain. “I was able to use my striking and my grappling to control him and get the title back.”

“Velasquez is a tough opponent,” said the always-gracious dos Santos. “His grappling is great and tonight his striking was great as well. Congratulations to him on his victory.” Before leaving the Octagon, dos Santos vowed to rematch Velasquez again and do as the new champion did and recapture the belt.

Co-Main Event Jim Miller vs Joe Lauzon

In a fight between two men known for their similarities  in intensity and top-notch submission skills they put on a fight for the ages that had a ruckus crowd on their feet showing approval. The two men met in the middle and traded punches and kicks for most of the fifteen minutes. It was hard to predict that fight would make it that far after Jim Miller created a nasty gash above the right eye of Lauzon early in the first round. Miller got a hold of a single collar clinch and unloaded a barage of nasty elbows. Lauzon did fairly well at deflecting the ones coming from the side then Miller hit him in the forehead with an upward arching one that caused the gash and Miller would go for a standing arm triangle that turned the cut into a geyser and before long had the doctor in the cage evaluating Lauzon. The cage side doctor deemed him fit to continue and that is precisely what they did as they traded inside leg kicks that knocked the legs from under both men at different points.

In the second round Miller got the take down but Lauzon was able to get the sweep after trying to work for a submission on the arm of Miller. The ref had to pause the action again as Lauzon’s tape around his hand was becoming undone due to the fact that both men were now covered in Lauzon’s blood. Once the action resumed Miller was able to utilize a rubber guard until the Boston, MA native picked up Miller and slammed him back down to the canvas which caused the crowd to erupt again and everyone in aw of the kid who was bleeding all over but seemed to have more heart to continue. Lauzon would threaten a knee bar but once again due to the blood Miller was able to slide his leg out of danger.

The third round saw Lauzon once again as the aggressor and pressing the action. Lauzon was getting better of the striking as Miller was clearly tiring. Lauzon tried to lure Miller in after he slipped and went down to the mat. Miler wanted him back up so the ref abliged. Miller managed to also bust open Lauzon under the eye. Lauzon got the better of the striking and with a about a minute left Lauzon attempted a flying leg lock. Miller held on to one of the wrist of Lauzon to keep him from being able to finish the submission and Lauzon would switch to a guillotine but didn’t have enough time in the fight and as the horn sounds and they break Miller drops the back of his head onto the chest of Lauzon and lets out a huge “Holy… Shit” as the crowd, whom all of look to be on their feet, erupt in approval once again these two men put on.

The judges gave Jim Miller the unanimous decision victory by scores of 29-28×3.

Miller now moves into sole first place on the all time UFC lightweight wins list.

Lauzon after the fight would tweet that he needed 40 stitches and lost a lot of blood but that he was all good and props to Miller on a great fight.

Tim Boetsch vs Costa Philippou

Both men came into the fight on a four fight win streak but that would come to an end in round 3 for Tim Boetsh. Boetsch looked sharp in the first round working his striking while mixing in front kicks and take downs. During the break between rounds 1 and 2 Boetsch seems to be telling his corner that he was injured. Not wanting to quit though he went back out and Philippou would take over the striking after Boetsch connected with a punch that knocked his mouth piece out at the same time Philippou inadvertently pokes him in the eye. After the action resumed Boetsch clearly looked to be having trouble seeing and closing the distance. Philippou took advantage on the feet and as Boetsch couldn’t finish the take downs Philippou would end up in half guard on the top and drop punches and elbows until nearly half way through the final round when the ref had seen enough and stopped the fight.

Winner by TKO at 2:11 of round 3 Costa Philippou.

Yushin Okami vs Alan Belcher

Okami came out and did what Okami does; he gets his opponent to the canvas and grinds out a victory. Okami got Belcher to the canvas over and over and controlled him from the top even though the ref had to stand them up a couple times. Belcher had his best moment in the second as he was able to wobble Okami with a punch but Okami would get him against the cage and drag the fight back down.

Winner by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Yushin Okami

Chris Leben vs Derek Brunson

Chris Leben in his return from a year long suspension suffered the same defeated fate that Garcia suffered against his short notice opponent. Brunson took the fight on ten days notice after Leben’s original opponent Karlos Vemola had to withdraw after suffering a fractured cheekbone. Brunson the former Strikeforce prospect put his collegiate wrestling skills to work early as he got the Crippler down and controlled him for most of the first round. In round 2 both men began their down hill slide as fatigue set it. Leben never really got off more than one shot at a time as Brunson was retreating and Brunson was able to get enough key take downs at the right time to secure the victory.

Winner by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Derek Brunson

Weigh-ins were held yesterday afternoon at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, hosted as always by Joe Rogan with Dana White present. All fighters on the card made weight with Melvin Guillard having to cut weight twice in two weeks after he was supposed to fight in the TUF Finale but his opponent was sick.

You can watch the weigh-ins video in full below. Please note that the video will not play on BlackBerry and Android devices and is only available on the website, iPad, and iPhone apps.

Main card (airing on pay-per-view)

Chris Leben (185) vs Derek Brunson (185)
Yushin Okami (184) vs Alan Belcher (186)
Tim Boetsch (186) vs Costa Philippou (186)
Jim Miller (156) vs Joe Lauzon (156)
Junior dos Santos (239) vs Cain Velasquez (240)

Preliminary card (airing on FX)

Brad Pickett (136) vs Eddie Wineland (135)
Erik Perez (136) vs Byron Bloodworth (136)
Melvin Guillard (155) vs Jamie Varner (155)
Michael Johnson (154) vs Myles Jury (155)

Preliminary card (airing on Facebook)

Chris Cariaso (125) vs John Moraga (126)
Leonard Garcia (146) vs Max Holloway (145)
Phil DeFries (245) vs Todd Duffee (249)

The five-round fight for the UFC Heavyweight title will be the second between the two after Dos Santos defeated the then champion Cain Velasquez on the first ever UFC on FOX broadcast to give Velasquez his first MMA defeat as well as getting his hands on the UFC gold.

You can watch the full Countdown show to UFC 155 below.

Dos Santos (15-1, fighting out of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil) ended Velasquez’s reign as heavyweight champion last November, knocking out the two-time Division I All-American wrestler in the first round. Now, the 30-year-old Velasquez (9-1, fighting out of San Jose, Calif.) seeks revenge in arguably the biggest rematch in UFC history. Dos Santos was the underdog in online betting last time these two fought.

“Cain is on a mission to get the belt back and avenge the only loss of his career,” UFC President Dana White said. “He wants to prove that he’s still the best heavyweight in the world. But Junior is one of the hardest-hitting fighters ever and he proved that by knocking out Cain and Frank Mir in back to back fights. This is the perfect fight to end 2012!”

In addition to the heavyweight title rematch, former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin meets former Division I national champion wrestler Phil Davis in a pivotal 205-pound contest. Griffin, winner of season one of The Ultimate Fighter, defeated Tito Ortiz in a trilogy bout in July. Now he collides with Davis, who is fresh off a brilliant submission victory over Wagner Prado at UFC 153.

UFC 155 also features surging middleweight star Chris Weidman (9-0, fighting out of Mineola, N.Y.) taking on Tim Boetsch (16-4, fighting out of Sunbury, Pa.) in a fight that will push the winner toward a 185-pound title shot. Weidman scored a first-round TKO of top contender Mark Munoz, while Boetsch snapped Hector Lombard’s five-year, 20-fight winning streak by defeating the Cuban in July.

If that wasn’t enough, Gray Maynard (12-1-1, fighting out of San Jose, Calif.) faces submission ace Joe Lauzon (22-7, fighting out of Bridgewater, Mass.) in a bout between two of the lightweight division’s top contenders. Maynard defeated Clay Guida in his last fight in June, while Lauzon earned another Fight of the Night award in August with a thrilling win over Jamie Varner.

Additional bouts for UFC 155 will be announced in the days to come at www.ufc.com.

Tickets for UFC 155: DOS SANTOS vs. VELASQUEZ 2, presented by Bud Light, go on sale Friday, Oct. 26 at 10 a.m. PT and are priced at $800, $600, $400, $250, $125, and $75. Tickets are available at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are subject to convenience and service fees.

UFC Fight Club members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 10 a.m. PT via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, Oct. 25 starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC 155: DOS SANTOS vs. VELASQUEZ 2 will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High Definition.