To The Top
As 2009 ended and 2010 began, Heavyweight was somewhat of a logjam, largely due to the fact that champion Brock Lesnar – who had beaten Frank Mir at UFC 100 to become the undisputed champ – was out of action with his first bout of diverticulitis and nobody was sure how long he’d be gone for. And at the time there were four contenders: Velasquez, his fellow unbeaten fighter Shane Carwin, and veterans Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
In the end, the UFC matched Carwin with Mir in an interim title fight, and so Cain was left with Nogueira, who had bounced back from a bad 2008 to beat Randy Couture in a great fight in 2009. Nog looked the same way he did in his PRIDE run again – much leaner, and much more durable. The fight was announced as the main event of UFC 108 – 2010’s first card – until Nogueira was forced out with a staph infection. So it was rescheduled for the UFC’s Australian debut – UFC 110 – and it was expected to be a close fight.
To say that was wrong would be an understatement.
Nogueira came into the fight in fantastic shape, but he was no match for Cain’s striking, which appeared to have improved by light years again. This version of Cain looked like a crisp boxer, using head movement to slip the Brazilian’s punches and tagging him with hard shots from the off. At just over the two-minute mark – two minutes yet again – Velasquez landed with a monstrous combination, dodging a Nogueira jab and delivering a left-right-left that dropped the legend. He followed by bouncing Nogueira’s head off the ground until he was completely unconscious.
Suddenly nobody was mentioning pillow fists anymore.
The fight put Velasquez in line for a title shot, but the title picture had to sort itself out first. In the end, it was Lesnar who came out on top, beating Carwin (who’d beaten Mir) in a hell of a fight to set up what looked like arguably the greatest Heavyweight title fight in UFC history, on paper at least. The unbeaten challenger against the champion, perhaps the most athletically gifted fighter in the division who would have a big size advantage. Undoubtedly, it was the biggest fight of 2010.
Destiny
The UFC decided to make Lesnar/Velasquez the main event of October’s UFC 121, meaning Cain had to wait eight months for his shot, the longest layoff of his UFC career to that point. The event was also set to take place in Anaheim, California – close to Cain’s base at AKA and also close enough for a large Hispanic fanbase to attend the show.
The UFC was heavily pushing the Hispanic angle, claiming that Cain – actually born in California, albeit to Mexican parents – could become the first Mexican Heavyweight champion. Hardcore fans scoffed at the idea but it seemed like the Hispanic fanbase took hold of the idea and ran with it. Cain was far more popular than Lesnar in the building.
The fight itself split the MMA fanbase almost down the middle; hardcore fans – as well as fellow fighters – seemed to be leaning towards Velasquez. I was with them. My feeling was that he was a far superior striker and Lesnar hadn’t looked good early on in the Carwin fight, wilting under heavy punches, but Carwin had gassed out before he could finish, and gassing was the last thing anyone expected Cain to do. I also figured the wrestling side of things would cancel itself out – sure, Lesnar was an NCAA Division I champion, but then he’d never had to face Mocco or Konrad. And Cain was also training with Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier in preparation – the first time DC’s name was really heard in the MMA world in fact.
The other camp was behind Lesnar, feeling that he was the superior athlete, a better wrestler, and much larger – cutting to make the 265lbs limit while Cain was walking in – with bodyfat – at around 240lbs. Their argument was largely based on sheer power overcoming a massive deficiency in skill.
They were horribly wrong.
Lesnar came out fast, looking to use his size, and managed to take Cain down early. Velasquez popped up with relative ease though and then defended another takedown attempt, before going for one of his own. The challenger was successful, dumping Lesnar with a single leg, and then the beatdown began. Lesnar ate some punches to the head, and then as he stood, Cain met him with a right hand that sent him stumbling out of control across the cage. Unlike Carwin, Velasquez didn’t go wild and picked his shots instead. By this point, it was painfully clear that Brock was horribly overmatched. He ended up being knocked down twice before Cain sealed the deal with a flurry on the ground, just over four minutes into the first round.
Lesnar looked like he’d been hit under the left eye by a machete. The bullying champion of the division had been absolutely slaughtered. The king is dead, long live the king. Or so we thought.
