UFC head signs off on trilogy after wins

This is quickly becoming the year of the trilogy.

With “Iron Man 3” and “The Hangover Part III” cleaning up at the box office, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is getting in on the action by making it clear that a third bout between the organization’s unquestioned top two heavyweights will take place later this year.

Champion Cain Velasquez and former champ Junior dos Santos left no doubt they were the two best in the division with dominant wins at UFC 160 at the MGM Grand Garden on Saturday night.

It’s a “no-brainer,” UFC president Dana White said late Saturday. “If there ever was a trilogy, that’s it right there. If you look at the way both fights went, I can’t wait to see the third fight. They both looked awesome tonight. They’re the two best heavyweights in the world.”

Velasquez and dos Santos have split a pair of fights and traded the belt over the last year and a half.

Dos Santos captured the title from Velasquez with a first-round knockout on the UFC’s first network television card on Fox in late 2011.

It was essentially a one-punch knockout that derailed Velasquez’s undefeated run through the UFC’s biggest division.

Dos Santos held the belt until Velasquez battered him for 25 minutes on the way to a decision victory in December.

Neither fight could really be called epic, but they showed how anything can happen when the two best heavyweight fighters in the world step into a cage.

Both fighters solidified that label on Saturday night as they each dispatched a contender with relative ease.

Velasquez retained the title with a 1:21 thrashing of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, while Dos Santos landed a series of hard shots on Mark Hunt for three rounds until finally putting him away with a spinning heel kick in the final minute of the fight.

Velasquez said a third fight with dos Santos is the most logical fight to book at this point.

“I think it makes sense, definitely. I’m up for that fight,” the champion said after his victory. “I think (it could sell out a stadium) maybe in Texas or Mexico. I would love that.”

Dos Santos obviously has his mind on regaining the belt, so Velasquez is the fight he desires even after the one-sided loss in December.

“My next goal is going to be for the title,” dos Santos said. “That’s what I want. I think I can stay on top of this division for a long time.”

It’s pretty clear that one of them will hold the belt for the foreseeable future. In fact, both have publicly discussed the possibility that this will become a long-running series at the top of the division.

That would make sense. Velasquez has looked almost invincible against everyone else. The only loss of his career was that defeat to dos Santos in 2011.

Dos Santos lost just one other time, when he was submitted back in 2007, well before he was in the UFC.

The only challenger in the UFC heavyweight division who looks like he may be able to break into the mix is two-time Olympian Daniel Cormier, but he is a close friend of Velasquez, and the champion reiterated this week that there is no chance they will fight.

Cormier is likely to end the possibility completely by dropping to light heavyweight in the near future.

At this point, perhaps the only event that could interrupt a long series of Velasquez-dos Santos fights is what appears to be the inevitable move of light heavyweight champion Jon Jones up to the heavyweight division.

That might make things even more interesting.

For now, it’s more likely these two fight a fourth time than we ever see those “Hangover” guys filming another movie in Las Vegas.

White did not put a time frame on the rubber match, but did say a date on the annual year-end card in Las Vegas was too far in the future. He indicated as long as dos Santos and Velasquez are healthy, it would happen before that.

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