Cain Velasquez has officially made history.

Velasquez became the first Mexican-American UFC heavyweight champion after dethroning Brock Lesnar in the first round via TKO at UFC 121.

The first round saw both men come to the center of the Octagon and immediately began testing each other. Velasquez began to swing at his opponent, while Lesnar began to press the action and landed a flying knee that caught Velasquez on the chin. From there, Lesnar began to clinch and landed some hard knees before he took Velasquez down.

Velasquez stood right back up and began exchanging again. Lesnar attempted a take down but Velasquez stuffed it and used the cage for leverage. As Lesnar held Velasquez up against the cage, he fought for the take down and eventually took his opponent down, but Velasquez showed strong defense and retreated back to his feet.

Moments later Velasquez pressed the action and he successfully took down the 265-pound behemoth and began to smother Lesnar with hard shots. However, Lesnar popped right back up. Lesnar went for another take down, but he slipped and stumbled across the Octagon and Velasquez overwhelmed him with strikes.

Velasquez dropped Lesnar and swarmed on him with a viscous ground-and-pound that hurt the champion and forced referee Herb Dean to end the bout.

What's next for Cain Velasquez?

After making UFC history, Velasquez will only have a short time to celebrate as rising heavyweight prospect Junior Dos Santos is next in line for a title shot. This anticipated heavyweight matchup should be intriguing, as both men possess power and are two of the most explosive strikers in the UFC. Expect these two heavyweights to square off sometime in the summer next year.

What's next for Brock Lesnar?

After suffering only his second loss in his career, Lesnar will have some time to recover. While he did show more improvement with his stand up skills, he still has a lot work to do in other areas.

Expect the 265-pound Lesnar to return to the Octagon sometime early next year and look to reclaim his status among the heavyweight division. A bout against heavyweight prospect Brendan Schaub is a possibility, while testing himself against the winner of Shane Carwin and Roy Nelson would certainly build confidence in his striking ability. Should he get past either Kongo or Schaub, a third bout versus Frank Mir could slot Lesnar back into the title picture.