Cain Velasquez | A Complicated Legacy (Video Essay)

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His resume can definitely be questioned and criticized. But the form he was in when he fought JDS in the rematch and rubber match, was out right scary. He was a beast in his prime.
 
BoD 2.0 said:
His resume can definitely be questioned and criticized. But the form he was in when he fought JDS in the rematch and rubber match, was out right scary. He was a beast in his prime.
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He was absolutely excellent no question. Really brutalized people.
 
It isn't a complicated legacy at all, pretty simple and straight forward. Fantastic skills which were rarely on display due to injuries, as a result is considered a 'could of been' not a 'best ever'
 
The guy was always a hype job from minute one. He was the multicultural response to the greatness of Fedor Emelianenko. Now that it's all over, Velasquez will just be a footnote in history.
 
"Legacy" most of times is discussed by idiots anyway, people who think a W/L record found on fight finder tell the whole story

Who love the sport and understand what he's watching know that Cain in his best days was ridicolous good, in my opinion the most impressive HW i seen after only prime Fedor
 
BoD 2.0 said:
His resume can definitely be questioned and criticized. But the form he was in when he fought JDS in the rematch and rubber match, was out right scary. He was a beast in his prime.
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As well as the fighter who pulverized prime TRT Bigfoot twice...the same Bigfoot who beat Fedor not long before that and also KO'd Overeem. Of course, Cormier destroyed the same Bigfoot as well.
 
pride_is_back said:
The guy was always a hype job from minute one. He was the multicultural response to the greatness of Fedor Emelianenko. Now that it's all over, Velasquez will just be a footnote in history.
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Revisionist history at its worst. Fedor never fought anyone like Cain or Cormier. And no, a 40+ year old, one-dimensional Mark Coleman doesn't count, nor does LHW Randleman who lost almost half of his fights.

Cain was VERY good at his best. Not perfect, as his first loss to prime JDS showed, but really good. He was too injury-prone to ever be in GOAT consideration, though.
 
mmacrisis said:
It isn't a complicated legacy at all, pretty simple and straight forward. Fantastic skills which were rarely on display due to injuries, as a result is considered a 'could of been' not a 'best ever'
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It's complicated because most people would put Cain top 5, even counting his resume because it's where someone like Cain SHOULD BE. Cain waas still ranked in the top 5 at HW by the UFC because it's just where Cain deserves to be ranked. It should be that simple and straight forward, I agree.

Bacco said:
"Legacy" most of times is discussed by idiots anyway, people who think a W/L record found on fight finder tell the whole story

Who love the sport and understand what he's watching know that Cain in his best days was ridicolous good, in my opinion the most impressive HW i seen after only prime Fedor
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Legacy is about what you leave behind when you're done, the ghost stories people tell about you 20 years after you've stopped being prominent. Legacy is important to discuss in sports, especially fight sports.
 
mkt said:
Revisionist history at its worst. Fedor never fought anyone like Cain or Cormier. And no, a 40+ year old, one-dimensional Mark Coleman doesn't count, nor does LHW Randleman who lost almost half of his fights.

Cain was VERY good at his best. Not perfect, as his first loss to prime JDS showed, but really good. He was too injury-prone to ever be in GOAT consideration, though.
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Fedor is 6-5 in fights overseen by an MMA commission
 
Fullmount Triangle said:
Why are you so proud of the post in your sig? To prove you picked Bader to beat Fedor, or is your own post building to a "I'd have peed" punchline your best work?
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No because I completely wrote off both fighters and the fact they both made it the finals of a heavyweight grand prix show the insanity of Mma. It's been up since prediction day honestly forgot it was there
 
Bacco said:
"Legacy" most of times is discussed by idiots anyway, people who think a W/L record found on fight finder tell the whole story

Who love the sport and understand what he's watching know that Cain in his best days was ridicolous good, in my opinion the most impressive HW i seen after only prime Fedor
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He lost to werdum in his prime. Discussion ends there. Overeem, Jds, Stipe won vs werdum. I loved Cain and he had goat potential but he is no way near those guys in terms of resume. Let alone dc, Jones and Fedor
 
SherKingGiantWood said:
His legacy is very simple. A bright prospect who self destructed because he is a meathead. Look at his training.
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It can be argued that he should have trained smarter, but I've always felt there is more to it than that. Cain having lots of success at AKA, a gym notorious for its injuries, is probably not a coincidence. Same as with those legendary Chute Box gym wars, that reckless approach has its pros and cons. The tenacity that made Cain win fights was probably at least in part the result of how he trained. The phenomenal cardio his style relied on was the result of a training regimen that his body didn't hold up to over time. So maybe the Cain we got was actually the best Cain there could ever be? Maybe his success was doomed to be short-lived, and maybe his career would have been less impressive had he taken a more careful approach? I think 'complicated' describes it quite well, because I don't think the what-ifs are as straightforward as maybe he should have trained smarter and then he would be the GOAT.
 
caligo said:
It can be argued that he should have trained smarter, but I've always felt there is more to it than that. Cain having lots of success at AKA, a gym notorious for its injuries, is probably not a coincidence.
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Cormier is 3 years older than Cain. He came from the world of Olympic-level wrestling where he almost died making weight cuts--so I doubt his health was perfect when he started MMA. Despite this, he's had an active fighting schedule, very few injuries and great longevity for a fighter his age. I realize some other AKA fighters has struggled with injuries, but I don't think it's that simple. It's clear Cain is just very injury-prone, and some of his training may have contributed to that. I'd be curious to see an analysis of major MMA gyms and pre-fight injuries...I'm not completely sold on the idea that AKA is out of line with other gyms when it comes to injuries.
 
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