UFC 146: Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva Head-to-Toe Breakdown

At UFC 146, the former UFC heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez, will face off against Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva, who is one of four men to defeat Fedor.

Silva was eliminated from the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix when he was knocked out by Daniel Cormier, who is, coincidentally, a training partner of Cain Velasquez.

For Cain, this fight will be him looking to get a second crack at the heavyweight title, and for Bigfoot, he'll be looking to prove that he is a top heavyweight and belongs in the upper echelon of fighters.

Let's take a look at a head-to-toe breakdown of these two fighters.

Striking

Cain Velasquez is well known for his striking. It was said that he had some of the best kickboxing in the heavyweight division.

Antonio Silva has a lot of wins to his credit by (T)KO—11 of 16 to be exact—but his striking will be no match for that of Velasquez.

Edge: Cain Velasquez

Wrestling

Once again, Cain has a clear advantage here, as a former Division I wrestler at Arizona State University, where he went 86-17 over three years.

Cain's wrestling was good enough to take down Brock Lesnar, and good enough to not stay down long when taken down by Lesnar.

You don't see it often in his fights, but he won his fight against Cheick Kongo when he used his wrestling after getting rocked.

Edge: Cain Velasquez

Submissions

Here is where Antonio Silva shines.

Silva is a black belt in BJJ and judo, so he has a solid grappling base and is a threat to anyone on the ground.

He made it 15 minutes with Fabricio Werdum without getting submitted and has earned two wins due to submission holds in his career.

If Cain does need to take the fight to the ground, he'll be in danger of getting submitted.

Edge: Antonio Silva

Strength and Conditioning

As far as strength and conditioning, each of these fighters has the edge in one category.

Cain Velasquez is known as a cardio freak, and he can go as long as bantamweights at the highest gear. You will never worry about seeing Cain gas out.

Antonio Silva is sure to have a strength advantage over Cain, and if he gets top position on Cain, there's a chance that he'd be able to control Cain.

Edge: Push

Experience

In terms of number of fights, Antonio Silva has an advantage over Cain, 19 fights to 10.

However, Cain has the advantage over Silva in terms of fights on the biggest stage, as Cain has eight UFC fights, including three main events, and the main event on the first-ever UFC on Fox.

Cain also has his collegiate wrestling experience and other amateur wrestling experience.

For those reasons, Cain gets the experience edge.

Edge: Cain Velasquez

Variables

Cain Velasquez

On paper, Cain is lined up to win this fight and should do so easily. As if all of that wasn't enough, Cain's training partner—Daniel Cormier—has fought and defeated Antonio Silva. Having that experience is sure to help Cain's preparation for such a dangerous opponent and should make "Bigfoot" about as intimidating as Little Foot.

Antonio Silva

For Silva, he's going to need to work on everything—a lot. He needs to be able to strike with Cain and stop his shot. Then, he's going to need to be able to get the fight to the ground, which his judo black belt will certainly help with.

Silva has his best chance to win on the ground, and everybody has to know that.

Prediction

This fight is going to look a lot like Silva's last fight, and it's going to end up with him on the ground, knocked out.

He doesn't have a striking advantage, a wrestling advantage or a cardio advantage.

His best bet would be a flying triangle—easier said than done from a 6'4" fighter—or pulling guard—which is a much more realistic idea.

Unfortunately, he won't get to do that before Cain floors and finishes him.

Prediction: Cain Velasquez via first-round knockout.

Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow him on twitter @TimMcTiernan.