Velasquez/Lesnar talk~

[Colin Gimp]

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So i did a search planning on bumping the already existing thread cause Velasquez recently did a interview talking about his gameplan against Lesnar but hey they'res no thread about this upcoming superfight.

So what i've already read about this is two things. UFC is doing a *new* primetime episodic about the fight. Going to be more then just one episode.

Velasquez brought in *then* undefeated Lashley to mimmick Lesnar

“Cain Velasquez doesn’t have that many fights either. Him and Brock are in the same boat. That’s going to be a fun one,” said White. “Both are good wrestlers and a lot of Cain’s game is wrestling. Cain Velasquez is a powerhouse.”

The outspoken UFC president said he was impressed with Lesnar’s daring to try an arm-triangle choke on Carwin in the second round of their bout, which eventually coaxed the Jackson-Wittman trained fighter to tap out.

“Your arms are smoked after (holding that move),” said White. “It was a risky move, but he pulled it off, and it was a ballsy move. Brock showed tonight that he’s evolving and he’s willing to take some chances and to try out some of the s--t he’s learning in the gym.”

.Velasquez Feels He's Ready for Lesnar; Says He Plans to go Frankie Edgar On His Ass

(Video courtesy HDNet)

Cain Velasquez will be on the next edition of Mike Straka's Fighting Words interview show tomorrow night and it's seems that the undefeated American Kickboxing Academy product who is preparing to challenge UFC heavyweight kingpin Brock Lesnar October 23 at UFC 121 in Anaheim, California is prepared both mentally and physically for the fight.

Velasquez says that the biggest challenge in preparing for a juggernaut like Lesnar was finding guys to mimic his power, speed and wrestling skill set, but he feels he is ready.

"I think getting guys his size with strong wrestling credentials [into AKA]
and really getting myself in bad positions and getting out of them. I don't think it's a point of avoiding those bad positions; I think it's getting in those bad positions, getting out of them -- really getting comfortable in those bad positions," Velasquez said. "You definitely gotta work on everything. You definitely gotta work on the stuff that [Brock] is really good at."

As far as Lesnar's little known submission prowess he displayed in his arm-triangle win over Shane Carwin who seemed like he was en route to victory after dominating the champion in the first round of their UFC 116 in July, Cain says he has a few tricks of his own on the ground that he has been waiting for the opportunity to show.

"[His submission game] doesn't worry me. I think I'm comfortable and confident in those positions that I'm pretty well aware of what's going to happen if he gets me in that kind of position," he explained. "I know what to do to get out and stuff like that, so getting in bad positions and getting out of them -- all kinds of submission holds from the ground -- we worked on getting out of them. I've worked a lot on my submissions to know what's bad and what's good."

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAAthletics)

In an interview he did with MMAAthletics host Rachel Leah last week, Velasquez says he plans on mimicking Frankie Edgar's gameplan the lightweight champion employed against BJ Penn the last two times he fought "The Prodigy."
"I feel really good about this fight. I got into this sport to fight the best and he's the best right now. For me for my size...I know he's a lot bigger and obviously a lot stronger than me. I have to use my quickness and I have to use the distance and just try to be quicker than he is," Velasquez said. "Hopefully with that and with my wrestling, just try to have my cardio up real high. Moving a guy that's really big...I competed in wrestling so much against guys that were so much bigger [than me] in wrestling that I'm used to wrestling and competing against guys that are a lot bigger. I have to be quicker that night."

This is going to be a great fight and the first time Lesnar's strengths are going to be attacked. Cain is going to be in for a surprise if he really thinks he has a big speed advantage over Lesnar. His hands might be faster, but it ends there. /end stolen quoteWho's your favorite? I'm going for Lesnar, he's getting better erverytime we see him. Always been a Velasquez so it's hard :[

 

[straight_edge76]

I honestly think that Cain is gonna beat Brock. Don't get me wrong, I love Brock and all, but Cain matches up so well, and tbh Brock may be over looking Cain a little bit based on his size, or lack there of, and if you over look somebody like Velasquez you are gonna get caught.

 

[...god...]

Lol same people said that shit about Karwin. Lesnar's gonna own him, hands down, no doubt, people shoulda figured this out by now. Probably just ground and pound and outwrestle like usual. And lol at him using Bobby Lashley for practice. He's definitely fucked.

 

[monkeystyle]

Cain doesn't have a chance imo. He's not a better wrestler than Lesnar is. He has better striking than Brock, but he doesn't have Brock's power nor does he have Shane Carwin's. If Carwin didn't put him out velasquz won't either. I'm sure Cain has better conditioning than Shane Carwin did, but Brock seems to be okay on that front too. He did go 3 full rounds with Heath Herring so I'm not questioning his gas tank either.

Either way seems to me that when you measure these two up it looks like Lesnar should probably take this fairly easily,

 

[Colin Gimp]

yeah the ufc is going to hype this more then they should. Cain KO'd a past-his-prime Nogueria and all of a sudden is talking about how much superior his stand up is compared to Lesnars. In reality, the critics were dissing Cain for not having striking power before his Nogueria fight and god damn Frank Mir thought he could take Lesnar with a better stand up game (who also annilihated Nogueria on his feet) and all that happened there was a lil flash. Mir throwing a high knee after Lesnar made him work, dropping them to the mat and had Mir planning to work something while Lesnar was in his guard. that's what's good about Lesnar, he'll test cardio to cardio right off the hop, and which is why the underdog Velasquez might suprise Lesnar with his "frankie Edgar" strategy.

Really all Cain can hope for is suprising Lesnar. Lesnar's just to smart for that. He'll go chest to chest side control after taking some shots and find a way. Lesnar;s standup is getting better he's proven he can stifle and still work his gameplan no matter what. This is going to be a good fight because Lesnar won't commit because of Cain's conditioning and if he does, well then ultimate upset could be in the works.

 

[pumpt73]

I never say a guy doesn't have a chance. I've learned my lesson too many times in this sport. One thing Matt Serra proved is that EVERYBODY has a chance. Each fight is an entirely different animal and preparation. While yes granted, Big Nog is a tad passed his prime, he's still got "gatekeeper" status. At some point the young lions have to get through the aging vets. That's just how the evolution of the sport has been. Rich Franklin had to do it against Ken Shamrock. Shamrock was well passed his prime, but Rich had to make his name on him. Same way Cain made his name on a guy who has held a PRIDE and UFC championship in Big Nog.

Now, with Brock, we really haven't seen all of his standup yet. Im waiting to see him throw standing elbows and knees, to see how far his Muay Thai is coming. I'll put Brock's wrestling ahead of Cain's, but that's not to say that Cain couldn't beat him in a straight up collegiate wrestling match.

In this match, Im picking Lesnar. Brock showed fantastic poise in the Carwin bout. Weathered a barrage from Shane and came out and took the fight in the second round. We're yet to see a submission from Cain, and yet he holds a Purple belt under Dave Camarillo. In the end, I think overall, Brock is just the better athlete. The guy is a freak of nature, flat out.

 

[Quintastic One]

Brock hasn't really had much of a chance to show us his stand up. He likes to take things down to the ground and pound a guys face in until he gets the win. With Carwin we saw an anomaly and we now know that not only can Brock rape you on the ground, he can make you tap too. He's patient, he's calculating, he learns from his mistakes and he prepares for everything.

What I would love to see from here is Brock show us that his stand up is really as mean as it looks on the ground. I want a straight up knockout on Velasquez. But for some reason I don't see that happening. Cain is gonna want to test Brock on the ground again and try to break him by showing his superior submission skills. IF he has them. I think we're gonna see a bout on ground control here, and the first one to slip up is gonna tap.

Brock needs to avoid being on his back, he needs to avoid letting one of his legs loose like what happened with Mir in Brock's first shot at Frank. Because Cain is gonna catch him. Brock just needs to stick with his original game plan. As much as I want to see a knock out, he needs to take Cain down and ground and pound. If he doesn't try anything fancy, he can dominate. But I know Brocks gonna want to show off a new move or try something different to continue to show that he's evolving, and that very well may be what costs him this match.

 

[pumpt73]

Great post Knox. Agree 100%. I said Lesnar probably has some of the best, if not the best GnP in the sport today. You can see Brock has this appetite to get better and better with each fight. I had read a rumor he was talking about entering the 2011 ADCC tournament to see how his submission skills were. I mean, here's a guy who had it made in pro wrestling, walked away and said Im going to play pro football, a sport he hadn't played since high school. Fans gave him static over it, and gave him static when the Vikings cut him, but fans failed to realize that he was the final cut they made, and he was offered a spot on the practice squad. Had he accepted, he had a chance to dress and maybe play if anyone on the 53 man roster was injured. I mean he beat out "X" amount of college draftees and free agents who had been playing the game while he was wrestling.

Brock then decides to try his hand at MMA, fights a can in Min Soo Kim, and says he WANTS the toughest competition. The guy is a freak. He's got a great camp in Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. What really impressed me about Brock coming into and after the fight with Carwin was how reserved and humbled he was. Nothing how he was for Mir. Fans weren't happy with the post fight antics after the Mir fight, and Brock comes back from the verge of losing his career to diverticulitis, and a total 180. He has incredible poise and patience, and that really comes from his amateur wrestling. You're always taught not to rush things because that's when mistakes happen.

When I look at Lesnar, I think he keeps the UFC HW title for as long as he wants to.

 

[straight_edge76]

I honestly think that Cain is loving the underdog role is in, I love Lesnar, don't get me wrong, but he hasn't been pushed to the max just yet, Carwin got close (and I still feel that fight could have gone Carwin's way) and Brock may be a better wrestler and has some of the most brutal ground and pound in all of MMA, but Velasquez is still one of the better wrestlers at 265 and his ground and pound is solid as well. Brock may have the size, and his cardio is never a question mark, but you also have to consider that his only fight since returning was against Carwin, which lasted only into the beginning of the second, I dont think that Lesnar will be gassed after 2 or 3 rounds, but I honestly think that Cain will be in a little bit better shape than Brock just because of his size, not just in MMA but generally speaking smaller guys have better conditioning than somebpdy bigger.

 

[pumpt73]

Amen SE. It's something that varies with each fighter from fight to fight. I would love to see Brock go 5 rounds just to gauge his conditioning. I don't call it into question because of what I've seen from the guy just as a pure athlete. From collegiate wrestling, to pro wrestling, to NFL traning camp, to wrestling in Japan, to MMA. Amazing what this guy is capable of.

I fully agree with you about Cain enjoying the underdog role. You've got nothing to lose. I think Cain's going to come out and put the pressure to Brock and let it all hang out. You know he studied the Carwin bout. A lot of refs probably would have stepped in and callled that just because of how it looked. I see Cain pacing himself and being more methodical with his strikes compared to Carwin, but no shortage of looking for a KO punch. Cain has to be careful though, and he knows that with Brock's wrestling. It's crazy how fast of a shot Brock has for a man his size. Cain's wrestling will be put to the test here.

But as far as conditioning goes, anything can happen. The last few weeks of camp didn't go good, outside stressors, injuries, even the fabled adrenaline dump. Not making excuses, but one thing this sport has shown is anything is possible.

 

[straight_edge76]

I think that Cain will go into the fight balls to the walls, but at the same time he will pace himself better than Carwin. He will I think be looking for a big strike, much like Carwin and if the Carwin fight he was pushing Lesnar and may have had him scared, if you paid attention to his post fight interview he acknowledged how easily Carwin could have taken the fight at the end of the first. I am not doubting Brock's cardio, but he was exhausted like he had never been before in his MMA carrer, and if MMA has taught us anything is never count anyone out. Just ask Matt Serra or Forrest Griffin.

 

[ariakerry]

If you over look somebody like Velasquez you are gonna get caught.
assignment help

 

[pumpt73]

If a fighter steps into a cage/ring and overlooks ANY opposition, there's a good chance he's going to get caught. The second you don't respect someone's skill, is the second the fighter gets caught, and voila, UPSET!!!

 

[straight_edge76]

Man, as this fight gets closer... The more impatient I become lol.

 

[X-Sterl-X]

Cain is an absolute animal. He never slows down and has some of the most technically crisp striking in the heavyweight division. Brock is going to have to make every takedown he actually gets on Cain count because Velasquez has a serious advantage on the feet and CAN take down an off balance Lesnar. I got Cain winning this.