I am choosing to talk about the challenger, Cain Velasquez first, because I like him and its my blog! I didn't really know much about Velasquez going into this other than he is undefeated. But after watching all three primetimes and reading a bit of background information on him I am definitely a fan. He is currently undefeated, with 7 of his 8 wins coming by knockout within the first two rounds. The only fight he let go to decision was his win against Cheick Kongo in 2009. His most recent wins were against huge heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira and Big Ben Rothwell by KO and TKO via punches. With results like that it’s pretty easy to see that he has some heavy hands. But his background is actually in wrestling. In high school and also in University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in education, he was a champion. At Arizona State University he wrestled with two fighters that I have talked about recently, Ryan Bader and C.B. Dollaway and was ranked 4th in the country in 2006.
Velasquez has unbelievable cardio, especially being in the heavyweight division. His sparing partners don't even go for the full five minute rounds, they tag off going 2.5 minutes each. His trainers often tell him "Don't break your toys"! Training is tailored to combat Lesnar’s size with Stamina. Keep in mind that this is a five round fight. 25 minutes for anybody is tough, never mind carrying over 240 pounds. With the max in the heavyweight division being 265 it will be to his advantage that he will not have to alter his diet to cut or gain weight like Lesnar will. He just has to maintain and will likely end up fighting at about 245.Velasquez very proudly represents the Latin community and has “Brown Pride” tattooed across his chest to remind him of that. Being one of the only Mexicans well known in the sport he is seen as a hero by many. Obviously he’s not out saving lives but he's an incredible fighter as well as a good person. He wants to be a legend and if this fight goes the way I want it to, he will be well on his way, at least in the sport of mma.
Velasquez comes from a hard working family. His father came from
Cain is the challenger in this fight but he has way more experience than Lesnar. From watching Lesnar's last fight Velasquez knows he has to really knock him out. The ref will not call a fight just because you're wailing on the guy like they might in other situations. It’s a title fight and a win won’t come easy. I really feel that Velasquez has the strength and ability to win this fight. He is a more relaxed and skilled fighter that doesn’t need to insult his opponent to make himself feel superior.
Now for the defending champ, in late 2008 Lesnar fought Randy Couture, one of my favourite fighters, and won in the second round to take the title. I didn't know a lot about Lesnar then, just saw that he was a mammoth of a man and I would definitely not want to get on his bad side. His next fight was a rematch against Frank Mir. After his childish outburst following that fight I decided I really didn't like Brock Lesnar. He was so rude and looked like a complete idiot. He said (don't quote me on this) Frank Mir had a horseshoe up his a**. I told him that a year ago. I pulled it out of him and beat him over the head with it. I’m going to drink a Coors Light. That’s right a Coors. Bud Light don’t pay me nothing. I may even get on top of my wife tonight. So, not only did he disrespect one of the UFC's biggest sponsors but he probably completely embarrassed his wife in front of the world on one of the biggest nights of his career. Classy guy... Then what gets me again is after his win against Carwin he says he is now a humble champion after putting his dirty gross mouth guard into Joe Rogan's shirt pocket! Who does that?After watching the 3 part primetime series I do see Lesnar's skills. In the end he's just a country boy from
Lesnar won’t allow the cameras to film his personal life so we won’t get to see his wife or kids. That’s a part of primetime I look forward to seeing. It is understandable though. Lesnar had major health issues to overcome in October 2009. He's very controlling and wants everything on his own terms. He and his wife have both been in the public eye for a long time since being a part of the WWE and how someone is at home doesn’t matter once they enter the cage, it’s just something I like to learn about.
Lesnar says he is the toughest S.O.B. around. Well he definitely has the s.o.b. part right. I feel like Lesnar is a terrible ambassador to the sport. You could say that I may be giving him too much credit, he is not the face of the UFC, and there are fighters that are a good influence like GSP, Rich Franklin, Randy Couture, and Matt Hughes that show respect in and out of the ring time and time again. However, when they name a whole month after him "Brocktober" and his face is on slurpee cups, he does represent the UFC in a big way.
During a prefight interview Lesnar said something along the lines of after I beat you up I'm going home to have a corona and a burrito to honor your heritage. Obviously referring to Valesquez's Mexican background. Really?! That is so uncalled for. Valesquez is a very proud Mexican and does a lot in his community to support the Hispanic culture and represent it well. Just another classy remark from the big doofus himself.
A friend of mine tried to tell me that there is a big difference between a fighter’s personality and their fighting ability and I have to respect that Lesnar is a great fighter. I will disagree with that for two reasons. If I based my decision on who my favourite fighters are only on their athletic ability it would be quite a boring blog. I don't know all the differences between muay thai and jiu-jitsu and haven't been following the UFC long enough to be able to see their progression. If I only looked at a fighters results in the cage I would be a fan of Koscheck and Big Country and we all know full well I am definitely not. Not saying I can't see past a fighters personality to appreciate the athleticism but it’s like a really attractive person who smokes, spits, and swears all the time, it just ruins it!
So the second reason is that I'm simply not over the moon impressed with Lesnar's wins so far. Let’s take a look at his most recent fights... His rematch against Frank Mir in 2009, he has a lot to prove after loosing to Mir in 2008 due to a silly mistake that landed him in a kneebar. It was his first fight in the UFC and he didn't necessarily have all the technical skills and experience to know when a move like that would be coming and how to ensure he avoids it. During his rematch Lesnar destroyed Mir, he controlled the pace of the fight and dominated Mir on his feet and on the mat and finished it at the end of round 2. Mir did gain a significant amount of weight for this fight to try to compete with Lesnar's size which could account for a bit of his fatigue (No I'm not giving him an excuse, I'm not a Mir fan by any means, just making points). This is not a once in a lifetime event. GSP has done this twice. He has avenged his only two loses to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra by submission and TKO, I'd say that’s a pretty decisive win too.
How about his fight against Randy Couture? In this fight Lesnar again had a significant size advantage, only 2" of height but 40 pounds of muscle. The fight was definitely close in the beginning, Lesnar didn't just run through Couture but he did finish the fight by TKO towards the end of the second round. Again, not a once in a blue moon event for someone to be knocked down. Just this past weekend Condit knocked Hardy out cold with one shot. Of course Hardy was not the title holder like Couture was at the time but he was the most recent challenger of the title.
And now his most recent win against Shane Carwin. Anyone who watched this fight knows that Carwin had the first round. He had Lesnar on the mat just over a minute into the first round and landed blow after blow. All that Lesnar was able to do was turtle and try to hold up his arms, not actually defending himself. In another fight, the ref may have called it after nearly 4 minutes of the same thing, Carwin was dominating and Lesnar made no move for progression other than being able to stand up after Carwin gases out pounding on his brick wall of a head. In a title fight however fighters know that it won’t be that easy. In the second round Lesnar got his second wind and decided to show up and did get the submission win. Yes this is a great display of his determination and ability to be able to come back after 4 minutes of a Shane Carwin beating but did Stefan Struve not just come back from his bottom lip looking like it was literally going to fall off to win in the 2nd round against Christian Morecraft?
I'm not trying to discredit Lesnar, a win is a win and he definitely earned the W in each fight. My point is that Lesnar is not some freak of nature running through the top fighters like bowling pins. He has proven himself to be a talented fighter and has obviously shown improvement in the technical skills of mixed martial arts but he still has a crummy attitude. That's my biggest issue. UGGGGHHH I can't stand it!
On matters of Lesnar I fully admit I am completely stubborn and I will not even agree to disagree. We will disagree and you will be wrong. Just kidding, kind of…
The only other heavyweight that may be able to take him now is Junior Dos Santos. I honestly do believe that if Carwin got a rematch against Lesnar, I feel like he would prepare himself better, knowing what a second round feels like and pull off the win. Of course that’s looking ahead, the fight this Saturday I know will be intense and I am definitely looking forward to Velasquez pulling off the upset.
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