Junior dos Santos was tested by Roy Nelson in a way he hadn't previously been tested in his UFC career, but dos Santos did enough to win a unanimous decision in his biggest fight to date at UFC 117.

The victory earns dos Santos a heavyweight title shot against the winner of the upcoming fight between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez.

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Nelson went for a takedown early and managed to latch onto dos Santos' leg before dos Santos shook him off, and then Nelson grabbed dos Santos in the clinch and controlled him against the fence. But once they separated, dos Santos began peppering Nelson with punches and had Nelson badly hurt halfway through the first round. Nelson absorbed a huge amount of punishment as dos Santos landed punch after punch after punch over the second half of the round, and it was amazing that Nelson lasted through the first five minutes.

Early in the second round Nelson landed a big right hand that backed dos Santos up against the fence, and he later landed a left that cut dos Santos' right eye. Dos Santos began to look tired about a minute into the second round, and it appeared that he might have punched himself out. Nelson went for a takedown at the midway point of the second round and drove him into the fence, but dos Santos stayed up. With about 40 seconds left in the round dos Santos landed a huge left hand, and it was amazing that Nelson stayed on his feet.

In the third round dos Santos started mixing up his offensive arsenal, landing a kick to the body and then a front kick to the chin, and following that up by taking Nelson down.Both fighters were gassed by the end of the fight, which ended with them exchanging punches, and then a hug.

The judges scored it for dos Santos 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27.

Dos Santos said afterward that he was amazed by the amount of punishment Nelson took.

"This guy is tough, man," dos Santos said. "Incredible."


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