In one of the biggest pay-per-views of 2010, Cain Velasquez introduced himself fully to MMA audiences everywhere in less than a round.
He took Brock Lesnar, the formerly entitled “baddest man on the planet,” and knocked him out with a series of devastating punches to take away some of Lesnar’s aura, as well as Lesnar’s UFC heavyweight championship belt.
For fight fans familiar with Velasquez but there to see Lesnar, it was an epic display. Lesnar, a man so freakishly muscular he had to cut weight to make it to the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds, was caught and stopped by a man who could almost fight at 205. A torn rotator cuff suffered in that fight has kept Velasquez on the sidelines in 2011 so far, but that’ll end when he makes his return to the biggest card in MMA history: The UFC’s debut on FOX.
Velasquez’s beginnings as a man start with his parents. The son of migrant workers who came to this country from Mexico, Velasquez is a first-generation American citizen. In what seems like something out of a Horatio Alger story, Velasquez would rise from humble beginnings to the heights of MMA fame through hard work and determination. If there ever was a personification of the mythic American dream, it would be in the path of the Latino champion.
His roots start in amateur wrestling, where he was a two-time Arizona state wrestling champion in high school, a junior college champion at heavyweight and eventually a two time All-American at Arizona State in the same weight class. Velasquez medaled at the NCAA tournament in a division which was the strongest it had ever been. Future Bellator heavyweight champion Cole Konrad would upset Velasquez during his junior year of college.
Velasquez opted against pursuing an amateur wrestling career because he wanted to step into a cage and see if he could fight for a living. Through nine fights as a professional, Velasquez (9-0) has defied the stereotype of using his wrestling exclusively to win fights by developing some of the best hands in the heavyweight division.
Velasquez began his career with regional shows for Strikeforce and Bodog Fight. This was when Strikeforce was still a regional promotion, before the signing of Fedor Emilianenko and the attempt at being a national MMA company, and when Bodog was attempting to do the same. From there he was signed to the UFC and his path of destruction began. No fighter has gone the distance with Velasquez, save Cheick Kongo, in seven UFC fights.
Velasquez excels at throwing punches and defensive wrestling. He isn’t the type of fighter who transitioned from wrestling to MMA and began to use takedowns with ground-and-pound tactics to grind out fights. He has outstanding takedown skills and is good at escaping from the bottom, utilizing a small variety of effective sweeps and escapes, but his game starts with strong sprawls and the ability to block a takedown. One imagines that if he had to, he could take down nearly anyone he wanted to, but that’s not how he wins fights. In many ways he’s a bigger version of Chuck Liddell in that regard; he uses his wrestling skills to keep fights standing, where he has an advantage over the bulk of fighters because of his hands.
Velasquez is defined as a fighter by his hands. He hits hard and fast, exchanging effectively with tremendous boxing skills. He’s also remarkably precise in how he throws; his success lies in the ability to hit someone hard straight on, but without opening his face up to be countered powerfully in return. His strength is that when he throws he connects, and he doesn’t throw punches for the sake of throwing punches. He’s aggressive with his punching, but he’s not in love with it to the point where he sacrifices position for a finishing blow.
Velasquez’s other strength is in his cardio. The guy never looks or acts tired, throwing harder in the third round than at the start of a when he was fresh. He’s a freak of an athlete in that regard; no one can push him harder in a fight, cardio-wise, than he can push his opponent. To beat Velasquez, which no one has before, it’ll take a similar special athlete.
Note: Article originally appeared on Fox Sports
To Read Will Cooling’s Take on His Opponent, Junior Dos Santos, Click Here.
