Thought on Cain cutting back on sparring

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WarKO

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I know the guy did brutal sparring sessions. Probably too brutal, they'd toss him a new
hw every round for 5 rounds and they'd go 100%. Saw a video w all the guys coming out bloodied
and Cain looking normal, like putting guys into a meat grinder.

But that along with his high-damage taking style took its toll.

Now he's cutting back to once or twice a week for sparring. Too little? Why doesn't he spar at 70% or spar but
just go easier ? Will this hurt his perfomance because Werdum showed he has some holes in his striking to work on.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2016/4/2...interview-cain-velasquez-less-sparring-injury
 
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Its a good thing he is cutting back on sparring, he always gets injured, in the last 4 years he has pulled out of more fights than he has actually fought!!. destroying his career in the gym. If this stops him from getting these constant injuries then yup its a great thing. All that intense sparring will only ruin your chin anyways and get you injured.
 
Versus Wedum he was coming from injuries and surgeries that took him 2 years from the sport that is already a big deal then add that all altitude issue that is totally on him of course and it was more then a 'uphill battle' and he still one the first round but was gassed shortly after.. messy fight you can't only blame it on layoff, gassing, altitude.. it was also Werdum of course and he has smarter with his preparation and the all "don't fight him on the ground" forced a major change in Cain's usual routine.

I truly believe that if his close to his normal form he takes that fight more often then not, problem is we do not know much about his abilities in this time we need to see the UFC 200 fight to know if he can recover to his usual performance and if he smokes Travis then we are on the right track and we can see a very different fight in the rematch.

Him training hard and sparring like a madmen I think it's necessary for fighters that are just starting up.. yea it's a thin line to when it's to much but damn it you get better and get more experience and it's the closes thing to a real fight that you can have more or less. In the end this is what made him good and made him be the champion and have huge success in the UFC.
 
I remember a video with the title - Cain destroying Cormier in sparring, it got deleted. This was before the Cain second massacre. I would like to watch it again but I don't know how to get those, it's probably on some countdown though
 
Moderate Cardio Cain is born.
 
Versus Wedum he was coming from injuries and surgeries that took him 2 years from the sport that is already a big deal then add that all altitude issue that is totally on him of course and it was more then a 'uphill battle' and he still one the first round but was gassed shortly after.. messy fight you can't only blame it on layoff, gassing, altitude.. it was also Werdum of course and he has smarter with his preparation and the all "don't fight him on the ground" forced a major change in Cain's usual routine.

I truly believe that if his close to his normal form he takes that fight more often then not, problem is we do not know much about this abilities in this time we need to see the UFC 200 fight to know if he can recover to his usual performance and if he smokes Travis then we are on the right track and we can see a very different fight in the rematch.

Him training hard and sparring like madmen I think it's necessary for fighters that are just starting up.. yea it's a thin line to when it's to much but damn it you get better and get more experience and it's the closes thing to a real fight that you can have more or less. In the end this is what made him good and made him be the champion and have huge success in the UFC.

He may be too damaged. I said it in the Rothwell fight, he won but ate so many knuckle sandwiches it was ridiculous. I said this guy is a machine but taking too much damage to get a takedown and get in and not enough head movement.

He has a very grinding, absorb till you win style and may just be shot from it. Even if he recovers now, I don't think he'll last much longer unless he changes his methods.

Despite the jokes, I do think altitude played a big factor w Werdum and it was stupid of Cain not to acclimate.
 
Its not necessarily about him going 70 percent or 100. He can still hit by the other guys who could still be going 100 when he is going 70. Sparring less means less of a chance to get injured or in an accident.
 
Too little too late. Cue Cain now vs. then gif.
 
He may be too damaged. I said it in the Rothwell fight, he won but ate so many knuckle sandwiches it was ridiculous. I said this guy is a machine but taking too much damage to get a takedown and get in and not enough head movement.

He has a very grinding, absorb till you win style and may just be shot from it. Even if he recovers now, I don't think he'll last much longer unless he changes his methods.

Well the general info coming from AKA is that Cain was the top dog in sparring and would win most of the time vs anyone that will go against him.

We do not know if this is the case now.. in present time it's been years since the last good Cain performance and we still have to wait a few months to see the current shape and form his working with.. the only advantage he has now it's that he is smarter and has more experience but psychically I'm sure with all the surgeries (hell post Brock fight his shoulder will never be the same for example) and the knees of a HW wrestler are far from "best form".

Like a fan I can only hope I see a good showing and him getting another tittle run until its really to late to pull it off.. heck thinking at the Werdum rematch not sure.. I mean that I'm not super impressed or on that Stipe bandwagon just yet but his younger, less damaged, hungrier, improving etc that is not a 100% sure fight for Werdum and with fighters that have Werdum's age is always dangerous because one night it's all it takes before suddenly age catches up to you in a big way and you go from "I can still do it" to "man I lost a step" and it won't be such a big surprise in fact we kinda expect it, tic tac.
 
Its not necessarily about him going 70 percent or 100. He can still hit by the other guys who could still be going 100 when he is going 70. Sparring less means less of a chance to get injured or in an accident.

Of course I mean both guys going 70%. If some guys going to be a d*** and hit him as hard as possible they'd kick the guy out. You learn to tell whose following along and whose not.

That's a risk they all take but pick partners who are cooperative and test a champ without damaging him.

The point is to simulate battle not get injured. I don't think Cain was even wearing a headpiece in the sparring vids I saw.
 
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Of course I mean both guys going 70%. If some guys going to be a d*** and hit him as hard as possible they'd kick the guy out. You learn to tell whose following along and whose not.

That's a risk they all take but pick partners who are cooperative.

But what if he gets fisted up the ass?
 
Well the general info coming from AKA is that Cain was the top dog in sparring and would win most of the time vs anyone that will go against him.

We do not know if this is the case now.. in present time it's been years since the last good Cain performance and we still have to wait a few months to see the current shape and form his working with.. the only advantage he has now it's that he is smarter and has more experience but psychically I'm sure with all the surgeries (hell post Brock fight his shoulder will never be the same for example) and the knees of a HW wrestler are far from "best form".

Like a fan I can only hope I see a good showing and him getting another tittle run until its really to late to pull it off.. heck thinking at the Werdum rematch not sure.. I mean that I'm not super impressed or on that Stipe bandwagon just yet but his younger, less damaged, hungrier, improving etc that is not a 100% sure fight for Werdum and with fighters that have Werdum's age is always dangerous because one night it's all it takes before suddenly age catches up to you in a big way and you go from "I can still do it" to "man I lost a step" and it won't be such a big surprise in fact we kinda expect it, tic tac.

The point is to find a style you can last with. Werdum is somewhat making the same mistake, he absorbed a lot of shots in the Cain fight. He's heading in the same direction, just absorbing the damage to get the glory. And it just shortens your shelf life. Lyoto had the right idea.

Which is why Stipe has a better style, in-and-out, good footwork and head movement.

Not enough MMA guys focus on being evasive and smart... they just want to grind their way to victories and get the title as soon as possible only to be shelved from injuries or lose their chin forever.

Look at Reem, pure talent and unbelivable power. Should be champ: probably best striker in MMA. Arlovskis good too except the occasional back-pedaling. But both guys have shot jaws from too many battles. One wrong move and its over for them.
 
Lawler didn't spar the first 10 years of him fighting and he's the champion now. Cain's not so......yea.
 
I think it is a smart move on his part. Obviously he needed to make some changes and cut back on something with the frequency of which he was getting injured. Hope to see him back in prime devastating form come ufc 200
 
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