[MilesHackett]

Check out Jack's latest piece following UFC 110!

Ever since Cain Velasquez entered the UFC, a torrent of propagandistic marketing has followed him. From the beginning we were told that he was the “next big thing” in the heavyweight division, despite his unassuming appearance, and had the potential to not only win the belt, but to reign over the big men’s weightclass for years to come. After his performance at UFC 110, everybody should now be taking that marketing much more seriously. His imperious victory over Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira not only proved that Cain Velasquez has a veritable claim as one of the top fighters in the UFC, but also that he just might be the best heavyweight in all of MMA.

http://www.fightlockdown.com/article...ally-that-good

[Aaron]

really, really great article. pretty much encompasses cain's journey to the top, and where he stands now.

bbjd hit the nail on the head last night posting, drawing comparison's to GSP. He's got this ridiculous wrestling ability, and seems to be improving in every area very quickly...something we don't see from HW's that often. when your an ace at wrestling, it has a synergistic effect w/ the other 2 major aspects....it enhances your striking b/c guys fear the takedown, and enhances your grappling b/c your brutally strong and you'll always be on top.

I don't see any reason why his submission game isn't following in the same footsteps as his striking frankly....sure he hasn't been on the ground w/ a good guard guy, but it's a pretty safe assumption that it's getting better each day.

[MilesHackett]

I was actually really disappointed with last night's fight because it didn't address questions that I wanted answers to. The thing that sucks is that we may never know how his grappling is against someone dangerous on the mat. Think about it, outside of Nogueira, Frank Mir is the only UFC HW fighter who has a dangerous guard. Cain completely avoided the ground with Nog and he could do the same thing altogether against anyone. Unless Mir is able to give him problems standing, it's unlikely that we'll see Velasquez's submission defense.

In short, I hate not learning anything from bouts. We already knew that Nogueira was quite beatable on the feet, Mir and Fedor have both shown that. Cain did it more impressively than both of them, but I still would have been more impressed if he managed to destroy Nogueira on the ground.

[Jack]

Originally Posted by MilesHackett

I was actually really disappointed with last night's fight because it didn't address questions that I wanted answers to. The thing that sucks is that we may never know how his grappling is against someone dangerous on the mat. Think about it, outside of Nogueira, Frank Mir is the only UFC HW fighter who has a dangerous guard. Cain completely avoided the ground with Nog and he could do the same thing altogether against anyone. Unless Mir is able to give him problems standing, it's unlikely that we'll see Velasquez's submission defense.

In short, I hate not learning anything from bouts. We already knew that Nogueira was quite beatable on the feet, Mir and Fedor have both shown that. Cain did it more impressively than both of them, but I still would have been more impressed if he managed to destroy Nogueira on the ground.

Yeah I agree here.

I was hoping Nog would do well standing, just so we could see how Cain would deal with his guard. Cain was crazily impressive, but I came away feeling a little cheated that we didn't get to see his ground game.

[Thaispider]

good work as always jack , i love that you especiallly, get articles like this done right after events.

[Jack]

Originally Posted by Thaispider

good work as always jack , i love that you especiallly, get articles like this done right after events.

Thanks man, a lot of credit has to go to Miles for getting it edited and posted the same night I sent it to him as well.

Anyone think I'm overestimating Cain here? Or is it justified?

[Thaispider]

Originally Posted by Jack

Thanks man, a lot of credit has to go to Miles for getting it edited and posted the same night I sent it to him as well.

Anyone think I'm overestimating Cain here? Or is it justified?

tbh the way he looked in the stand up and with his wretling ability i think the hype is justified , im not a fan but he is a scary dude at HW.

[Brad.Taschuk]

I'm in the same boat with Cain as I am with JDS. I just wish they'd show us that last aspect of their games before I say they're going to run the division for years to come. Although that's much more of an issue with JDS than Cain, since Mir is the only decent guard player left in the division, and even then, he's not great on the ground when he's being hit. JDS has to deal with many a better wrestler than him, and us seeing his jitz game would go a long way to determining how well he'd match up with them. I fear once again we're not going to see that in his next fight though.

I think it's hard to say it's too soon to make these kinds of claims when it comes to the HW division, since guys can move up so quickly (like Carwin being in title contention for no good reason still, despite legitimate challengers being present now).

Nice article Jack. Good to see something right after the event.

[DaProdigy]

Originally Posted by Jack

Yeah I agree here.

I was hoping Nog would do well standing, just so we could see how Cain would deal with his guard. Cain was crazily impressive, but I came away feeling a little cheated that we didn't get to see his ground game.

Agreed. It's always frustrating that the collision of effective game plans seem to produce fights where each combatant is prevented from utilizing their most refined expertise. Somehow when a young athletic wrestler fights a seasoned grappling specialist the result is a kickboxing match and fans that are left with a hell of a lot more questions than answers.

The article was a decent read but I think the general MMA fan wouldn't necessarily appreciate the use of words like indefatigable.

[Rated]

But Cain has pillow fists!!1!!11

Oh, and was Roger really not that popular? I thought the fans loved him ...