UFC 121 Results: Cain Velasquez's Coronation Four Years in the Making

Call it a knee-jerk reaction or just living in the moment, but Cain Velasquez’s one-sided knockout of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira back in February was an eye-opening moment for many MMA fans.

Maligned for performances against Cheick Kongo and Ben Rothwell that, while dominant, didn’t pack the heaviest punch, so to speak, Velasquez’s thrashing of Nogueira marked the American Kickboxing Academy’s most profound performance to date (at least then), and the true signs of a mixed martial artist coming into his own.

I won’t lie: That performance hitched me to the Cain Train in an instant, and it didn’t take long for me to espouse as much (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/349679-ufc-110-brock-lesnars-days-are-officially-numbered).

For the next eight months, the Cain Train was on a crash course with then-UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in the classic clash of irresistible force meets immovable object. For fans unable to capture the spectacle of Fedor Emelianenko versus Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in 2005, Saturday’s headlining attraction between Lesnar and Velasquez had every bit the anticipation and allure of this decade’s premier heavyweight MMA attraction.

For me, this fight felt like something special.

We’ve seen title fight after title fight this year from promotion to promotion. Maybe it has something to do with the age-old stage that is heavyweight prizefighting, but Lesnar versus Velasquez seemed a cut above the rest.

And while the action itself didn’t even make it out of the first round, lasting a mere four minutes and 12 seconds, this is still a fight that people will be talking about for years to come.

After his torrid ascension through the heavyweight ranks, Velasquez did anything but stumble over the 265-pound heaping behemoth in Lesnar at UFC 121, as a new UFC heavyweight champion has been crowned in an utterly dominant and destructive fashion.

A lot can happen in 252 seconds. In a fight that had been broken down from every conceivable angle, several questions were answered right out of the gate.

How would Lesnar approach the more well-conditioned Velasquez as far as pace goes? How would Velasquez deal with the seemingly insurmountable size of the heavyweight kingpin? How would the wrestling aspect play out between the two decorated former collegiate standouts?

Unfortunately for the Lesnar contingent, many of the arguments they hedged their bets on were debunked by the newly crowned champion.

As someone who has argued exhaustively over the Lesnar-Velasquez matchup, the common school of thought was that Velasquez would struggle to deal with the much-larger Lesnar. Conceding the fact that Velasquez is a more well-rounded, better overall fighter, Lesnar’s size would prove to be a bane for Velasquez, just as it has for all his prior opponents.

Wrong.

The most telling point of Saturday’s fight came 30 seconds in when Lesnar more or less drove Velasquez to the mat with an early takedown. With both fighters still at their relative freshest, conditioning-wise, Velasquez secured control of Lesnar’s left forearm, squirmed his hips and, after a mere seven seconds on the mat, scurried back to his feet.

It was a pretty ironic exchange. Having been maligned for not being big enough to overcome Lesnar, Velasquez used his advantage of being lighter and having greater flexibility to maneuver his hips, which allowed him to easily slither out from underneath Lesnar.

Compare that to how Lesnar fared off his back, as his size and some sleek cage control by Velasquez hampered the former pro wrestler’s movement severely. Lesnar struggled to so much as regain guard. The only other time Lesnar would secure a takedown would be a brisk double leg, where Velasquez may as well have landed on a spring, given the ease with which he bounced back up to his feet.

This shouldn’t be that shocking to everyone. It’s pretty baffling that so much was made over the collegiate credentials between Lesnar and Velasquez, as if any of that applies in the context of an MMA bout.

It’s great and all that Lesnar has an NCAA title under his belt, but so does Mark Munoz and look how his wrestling has translated to MMA. Look at Georges St. Pierre, who has as much collegiate wrestling experience as I do, and is considered by many to be the best wrestler in the sport today.

In an MMA context, Velasquez has shown a much better wrestling skill set, from his versatility to his ability to set up takedowns, neither of which Lesnar is particularly proficient at. Brock’s a power double leg fighter who is still green in setting up his takedowns. He has gotten by against lesser wrestlers because his speed, size and athleticism make for one explosive shot.

The only real instance in which we’ve seen a wrestler stand pat against Lesnar was Randy Couture, the smallest fighter Brock has faced. At this stage, Velasquez is a much better wrestler than the aged Couture.

So, with Lesnar’s edge in size partially negated by his inability to implement his wrestling into the equation, he’s now at the mercy of a vastly superior striker in Velasquez, whose kickboxing game has rounded into something fierce of late.

But as had been the case early in Velasquez's career, just how could anyone fathom the notion of him stopping Lesnar with strikes? If Shane Carwin, arguably the sport’s heaviest puncher, couldn’t, how could the pillow-fisted Velasquez?

Velasquez’s power might have been the most overlooked factor leading into this fight.

Part of improving technique is learning to harness your power. More than anything, I think that’s what we’re seeing with Velasquez. Things like hip rotation, feet planting—they all factor in. While Cain struggled to home in on these things early in his career, I think the Nogueira fight was the first sign of it all starting to come together.

Furthermore, watching the way Lesnar reacted in eating shots from Carwin, chiefly that lead uppercut from distance (hardly a kill-shot punch, mind you), smiling in the face of a Velasquez hook in the pocket is a very, very unlikely proposition. The mechanics and technique just don’t add up.

Because, let’s be honest, no man with pillow fists could do to Lesnar what Velasquez did and leave a seismic gash under the ex-champ’s left eye and the rest of his face as puffed and swollen as a catcher’s mitt.

Carwin came close, but Velasquez’s superior conditioning and eerily calm, cool demeanor allowed him to finish what Shane had started.

From the moment Lesnar botches a takedown and appears to lose to his balance (or maybe slip on a banana peel), Velasquez isn’t overanxious at all in his approach. He doesn’t overexert himself during any one bit of offense; he’s as calm and methodical in breaking down Lesnar as, say, Fedor Emelianenko might be.

It was the culmination of things for man stepping into the cage for only the ninth time, two years shy of the 30-year barrier. Linked alongside Lesnar and Carwin as three of the sport’s future heavyweight stalwarts, Velasquez appeared to be an uncrowned champion within MMA circles long before Saturday night’s fight went down.

If a prediction was made by a fighter, coach or what not, it was firmly in favor of Velasquez. But ask a fan for their thoughts and it usually ended with something to tune of BROCK SMASH!!

Everybody has their kryptonite. But Lesnar’s too physically gifted not to bounce back from this performance.

It’s just a point that many have been trying to hammer home for a while now: Lesnar just simply ran into a better fighter on Saturday.

And on Oct. 23—just over four since years since Velasquez made his MMA debut—boy, did he ever.