Cain Velasquez's Legacy: How Will You Remember "Cardio Cain"?
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This will always be the first thing that comes to mind anytime someone mentions Cain.
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I will remember him as:
A) S-tier heavyweight
B) One of the two "New" greats, and the one that proved himself better in peak performance heads up.
C) HW Rey Mysterio Jr
& an inside joke
D) Lt Surge's bane - I'll explain
Lt Surge used a thunder stone on his Pikachu really early. It got suddenly bigger and unnaturally strong, but it never learned it's agility moves. Ash's Pikachu was also an electric type, and it had less size and strength than Raichu. However, far more agile and electric attacks were not very effective on it.
So when Brock Lesnar's would go for takedowns, they had no effect. Cain was too fast and agile. Ash prepped accordingly; AKA utilized the speed advantage. Quick attack, quick attack, Mega punch. Raichu couldn't get out of the way and nothing he did could land on Cain. So LT Surge screamed out, THUNDER THE ENTIRE ARENA, and Brock went charging across the cage to bull tackle him. But Velasquez balanced on his tail and funneled the force into the ground. Half the first round was left and Raichu was exhausted. He got dizzy and spinner around and fell. AKA earned it's Thunder Badge.
A) S-tier heavyweight
B) One of the two "New" greats, and the one that proved himself better in peak performance heads up.
C) HW Rey Mysterio Jr
& an inside joke
D) Lt Surge's bane - I'll explain
Lt Surge used a thunder stone on his Pikachu really early. It got suddenly bigger and unnaturally strong, but it never learned it's agility moves. Ash's Pikachu was also an electric type, and it had less size and strength than Raichu. However, far more agile and electric attacks were not very effective on it.
So when Brock Lesnar's would go for takedowns, they had no effect. Cain was too fast and agile. Ash prepped accordingly; AKA utilized the speed advantage. Quick attack, quick attack, Mega punch. Raichu couldn't get out of the way and nothing he did could land on Cain. So LT Surge screamed out, THUNDER THE ENTIRE ARENA, and Brock went charging across the cage to bull tackle him. But Velasquez balanced on his tail and funneled the force into the ground. Half the first round was left and Raichu was exhausted. He got dizzy and spinner around and fell. AKA earned it's Thunder Badge.
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Vain Celasquez
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A lot of fighters take losses in title fights real hard but Cain came back like a rabid beast from the title fights he lost.
Too bad he was made of glass.
Too bad he was made of glass.
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Cain is a damn shame. Very good fighter. Relentless.never played it safe or tried to out point his opponent. He just went after them all guns blazing every time.
I dont know if hes the very best but he was close.
Too many injuries and too inactive to really give himself a chance to really be the goat hw.
Healthy, he is top 3 skill level of all time imo.
I dont know if hes the very best but he was close.
Too many injuries and too inactive to really give himself a chance to really be the goat hw.
Healthy, he is top 3 skill level of all time imo.
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Cain is one of the most incredible HWs to have graced MMA, albeit in a very limited career.
He had the tools that naturally talented athletes wish they could posess. Most of his tools, were from a psychotic work ethic.
Something that I'm not sure I've seen mentioned, is that I believe his frame was never naturally heavyweight. Not his mass, but his bone structure may have been enough to have a light heavyweight career. Though, it's always hard to truly say if you aren't his nutritionist. But his wobbly bits were testament to me, that he was carrying 30+ lbs of fat.
Saying that; I think that gives part of his legacy in a Fedor-esque manor. A guy who could have stripped off his love handles and gone a division down but chose to be one of the smallest in the class and still fight the big boys.
So, he would train and train and train until his body broke. Because I assume he didn't lift correctly or eat correctly. He wouldn't recover correctly. So we had this perpetual state of injury. I'd bet my ass he fought carrying injuries too but likely wouldn't mention it. His lack of glamour and aptitude for all out war was for me, what I want to see in a fight. He was "old school" in combat. He would have fit in perfectly in the early MMA years.
I'm just gutted that he couldn't recover enough.
So long Cain. Time for some weigh training and HGH to make some money.
He had the tools that naturally talented athletes wish they could posess. Most of his tools, were from a psychotic work ethic.
Something that I'm not sure I've seen mentioned, is that I believe his frame was never naturally heavyweight. Not his mass, but his bone structure may have been enough to have a light heavyweight career. Though, it's always hard to truly say if you aren't his nutritionist. But his wobbly bits were testament to me, that he was carrying 30+ lbs of fat.
Saying that; I think that gives part of his legacy in a Fedor-esque manor. A guy who could have stripped off his love handles and gone a division down but chose to be one of the smallest in the class and still fight the big boys.
So, he would train and train and train until his body broke. Because I assume he didn't lift correctly or eat correctly. He wouldn't recover correctly. So we had this perpetual state of injury. I'd bet my ass he fought carrying injuries too but likely wouldn't mention it. His lack of glamour and aptitude for all out war was for me, what I want to see in a fight. He was "old school" in combat. He would have fit in perfectly in the early MMA years.
I'm just gutted that he couldn't recover enough.
So long Cain. Time for some weigh training and HGH to make some money.
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That seems nuts considering Dos Santos would go on to be a fixture in the top 10 after losing to Cain.
Goes on to beat:
Hunt, KO
Stipe, UD
Rothwell, UD
Blagoy, UD
Tuivasa, KO
Lewis, KO
Loses to:
Overeem
Stipe (they are 1-1)
Ngannou (also murdered Cain)
If you can believe it, Cain only had three more fights after his second win over JDS, and he went 1-2, getting put away twice. There is nothing to suggest Cain could have beat all the guys JDS did. In fact if he could have, he would have.
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HIs cardio level is a myth. Their are many hw who had just as good of cardio as him.
Although he had good cardio for a hw.
He was always overhyped. Zuffa sold you him as the best most well rounded fighter.
Despite fighting 8 times. They told you all how he’s unquestionably the best and you ate it.
Cain is a good hw. He’s not a top 5 hw. And that’s just the facts of a fighting career.
He had the benefit of a promotional buzzsaw pumping him up.
He beat a geriatric noguiera who couldn’t move.
He beats jds twice. And Bigfoot twice.
Never tested against various styles.
When he fought werdum. You saw how well rounded he actually is.
Werdum better stand up. Better in the clinch. Better on the ground.
And that’s a jiu jitsu guy beating him in all of those areas.
Every time he faced adversity he failed.
All of those things will tell you he’s not one of the top 5 hw in mma history.
But the main thing is his resume.
Although he had good cardio for a hw.
He was always overhyped. Zuffa sold you him as the best most well rounded fighter.
Despite fighting 8 times. They told you all how he’s unquestionably the best and you ate it.
Cain is a good hw. He’s not a top 5 hw. And that’s just the facts of a fighting career.
He had the benefit of a promotional buzzsaw pumping him up.
He beat a geriatric noguiera who couldn’t move.
He beats jds twice. And Bigfoot twice.
Never tested against various styles.
When he fought werdum. You saw how well rounded he actually is.
Werdum better stand up. Better in the clinch. Better on the ground.
And that’s a jiu jitsu guy beating him in all of those areas.
Every time he faced adversity he failed.
All of those things will tell you he’s not one of the top 5 hw in mma history.
But the main thing is his resume.
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Agree with all of that. Perhaps at best he is ‘arguably’ top 5 if you look at the short window of his prime but in terms of longevity amongst the elite you can’t put him ahead of someone like Couture let alone Fedor.
As with Cruz, the injuries and inactivity bloated his time of being considered relevant and when he returned this year he was despatched very quickly and his subsequent retirement is likely a product of now knowing he has no business being in there with guys like Ngannou. Even had he fought more regularly the losses to JDS and Werdum suggest his record would have been littered with losses.
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JDS resume is better no contest but after the beating he took vs cain he became a different fighter
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I respect Daniel Laruso a lot for what he accomplished at the all valley karate tournament. So I’m glad I agree with the fictional characters online persona decades later on an mma forum.
Respect
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HWs rarely have good cardio can you name even a handful of HWs who had cardio like Cain when he first won the title? Nogueira was 3-1 in the ufc when he fought Cain and his last 3 were against the 3 previous ufc hw champions before Lesnar so obviously he wasn’t the 2003 Nogueira but he for sure was still a top HW at that time. He beat JDS twice winning and defending the UFC title. He beat Bigfoot while they were both coming off losses and then again after Bigfoot Ko’d Travis Browne(contender at that time) and Ubereem also a contributing factor is that Bigfoot was blinded 30 seconds into the first fight by a cut and the ufc gave him a shot deservingly so. He faced plenty of adversity he was beat by JDS and came back to destroy him twice that still counts as adversity.
He did face several different style match ups. He has fought strikers, wrestlers, BJJ specialist, he had a short career but it was for the most part all in the ufc. 14-3 12-3 in the ufc. His injuries seriously derailed his career. I say all the time he is the Ken Griffey jr of mma had years of greatness and could have been the all time great but injuries fucked him over.
I honestly believe people just look at his record and don’t actually look back at history. There is context to every fighters record that’s why it’s important to go back and watch fights from the past and not get lost in fight finders.
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Cardio to match:
Nogueira. Maybe not speed, but cardio.
Couture.
Somebody massively undermentioned; Brock. Huge gas tank.
Of course, Fedor.
Arlovski.
JDS. Again, not speed, but cardio.
A bunch of the pre modern era HWs. 10+ minutes of straight fighting.
Kharitonov. (watch him vs Nogueira).
It may well be that during that actual time of him holding the belt, that it was hard to find cardio machines in the UFC during that year but they weren't rare.
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Strange legacy to gauge fully. No doubt he was one of the greats of all time in his youth and with full health. The Cain that beat Brock, JDS two times, Bigfoot Silva. Jesus Chris what a beast.. Injuries and not being active obviously takes much of the shine off those wins..
Top 5 HW still for me. He was that dominant in the short run..
Top 5 HW still for me. He was that dominant in the short run..
