First of all, I apologize if this topic has been done. I traveled just after the event and am only back home now to write about it. Anyway, the thing I thought right after the event was simple: It was surprising how Cain could pick Junior apart, because mostly I noticed Junior did not attack at all! One punch here one there, but nothing else. So how would Junior build up from there? IMO this is simple! Cain dominated for 5 full rounds.... ...but he couldn't put Junior away! So what does that mean? That means Junior CAN withstand Cain's pace in the first place! if anything, Cain was showing more signs of fatigue than Junior. That also means Junior proved he had a granite chin. Also, that showed his biggest mistake was not making Cain pay for his relentless attacks. heck, nowhere during the fight, Junior throw any knees! I mean, this is the first thing you catch someone shooting at your legs like Cain did! So I would build on this! he took All Cain could throw at him and was still standing! Build from this and up!!! IMO Junior's biggest mistake was exactly what was said in the pre-fight conference. When a reporter asked Cain if this was a dream rematch, Cain said yes. Junior made a point to say: "This is a rematch for Cain, for me it's just another fight". Maybe he should have treated it like a rematch, because Cain came back with a vengeance, Junior apparently didn't count on having competition!!!
He needs to build on everything. It was clear from him being dominated on the feet and on the ground that he shouldn't focus on "drilling" a certain technique: he needs to drill his skillset.
JDS just needs to learn how to adapt when he is not the one controlling the pace. Cain took him off his game because he never let up. He was always in his face and dictated where the fight went. Dos Santos also needs to work on his defense. I've always criticized it (and got flamed), but he lacks stand up defense. He leaves his hands low and takes shots he shouldn't take.
I've been saying this for a long time, he really needs to work on his striking defense. He leaves himself very open for counters pretty much every time he throws, and he often holds his hands far too low (like when Cain dropped him, I'm aware he was worrying about the TD but his hand positioning was really lazy when he got dropped). I think it's mainly to do with him overestimating how good his hands are, that beating should hopefully open his eyes to the holes in his game.
I think a third fight would be a little more competitive, but I still see Cain winning. Cain is the superior athlete, and the more well rounded fighter. If he doesn't get Cain out of there in the first ten minutes, I have an even harder time seeing Junior win. He's gotta knock him out. A war of attrition is something that no HW in the world can win against Cain.
Yeah, as bad as the beating was, there are some good takeaways for Santos. He proved his toughness and heart. He proved that he can not only survive the takedowns, but repeatedly return to his feet. He proved that he can take Cain's best shot. He proved he can sweep Cain. I think next time around, he won't worry so much about defending the takedowns, and just fight his fight. It seemed defending the TD was his only objective. As if he had won the fight just by doing so. He had a number of early opportunities to attack, both on the feet and on the ground, but didn't react at all. Cain adjusted after the first fight by becoming more aggressive. I would expect Santos to do the same thing the next time they fight. It will be interesting.
The most important thing Junior needs to do is make sure he doesn't take a monster punch to the jaw early on, and then take 8 more bombs while he's trying to get back up. I assure you that even Cain can't simply dominate Junior unless his brains have been scrambled first. But please fire away, armchair warriors, and say things like he needs to keep his hands up, he needs to work on his TDD, he needs to work on his cardio, he needs to... blah, blah, blah.
Watch. At the end of this year, they'll be scheduled for rematch. And it'll be the greatest fight of all time. Cain gets hurt bad this time, comes back take the rest of the fight. Until, Junior lands a last resort bomb as time expires. And he literally rides out of the octagon on a horse born and raised in Brazil.
yout building on something very well. Everything you said is true and and UFC could definitily sell that for the rubber match. But in reality JDS has much more negativity than positives from that fight, even though he wasnt put away.
He apparently does not have any Olympic-caliber wrestlers in his camp. If he is going to face Cain again there are plenty available in the US and former USSR that would love some Brazilian hospitality.
He needs to work on striking while moving backwards (Liddell style); he's never had to do that before but he'll obviously need to work on it.
JDS mistake was to let Cain get on his feet after going for takedowns. I didn't count how many of these were, but Cain looked like a damn amateur almost eating the cage floor going for those. JDS had to capitalize on that instead of letting him up.
That last part had me laughing. LOLOL. Do Rodrigo and Rogerio feed it carrots, as well? We're very lucky to be witnessing such a great era of HW fighters. Can't wait for the next fight.
nope jds had enough energy to get off the ground and get punched in the face cain had enough energy to take jds down and punch him in the face if jds was fresher, he would have been throwing many shots instead of a couple per round
That's what I think you are wrong. I mean, Junior didn't throw many shots on the first rounds while he was fresh. IMO he just didn't throw anything because he was in Defense mode only. And on the above I am obviously not alluding that Junior was "fresh". but Cain did get "tired of beating him"! And you know how much harder it is to take punches than to throw them? So what I meant is that, if the fight was back & forth, Junior could have tired Cain much more than he did with his non-offense fight he did.
well, that's one point of concern also. he mentioned that for this camp, he didn't bring anyone for wrestling. IMO he was over-confident his own style would make Cain not wrestle him. but he did little for that to happen. I agree with you. he needs to bring great wrestlers and improve his game.
yea cain was showing more fatigue is that why cain was not on his back. jds was flat on his stomach what are you talking about. the answer to your question is for jds to never fight cain again and he will be fine
Cigano did nothing against Cain. He avoided takedown after takedown against Cain & then gassed out, in the first round and this was prior to him getting dropped. JDS kept his hands low and he let Cain to tee off on him. Showing up for this fight the way he did, he deserved everything he got.I'm just hoping now a fire is lit under his ass and he destroys everyone in his path. Potential fights for JDS 1. Barnett - both coming off a loss and would make a great co main event 2. Overeem/BF loser
