[z06boy]

Originally Posted by Triple

I fully expected Velasquez to dismantle Lesnar. I was never a Lesnar fan to begin with, and for me, all his mystique disappeared with the first round mauling he took from Carwin. If Carwin had come into that fight with the proper conditioning, he would have taken the title just as easily as Velasquez. Lesnar is good, and I expect him to come back even better, but his unrealistic reputation was built entirely upon wins over the aging shadow of Randy Couture and the always over-rated Frank Mir.

Velasquez reminds me of Fedor. The quiet, humble fighter who grew up in poverty, who lacks the size and physique of his opponents, who wins not through physical strength, but rather technique and tenacity. Velasquez is a wrestler and Emelianenko has his Sambo, but both are grapplers who also excel on the feet. With the exception of Fedor's last few fights, both guys dominate from bell to bell. With Fedor's career winding down (he fought all of 69 seconds in 2010), I can't think of any up-and-comer more deserving of the torch than Velasquez.

That said, as of today, I still think Emelianenko could take Velasquez. Styles make fights, and I think Fedor would actually have more trouble with monsters like Lesnar or Carwin.

Velasquez's first title defense against Junior dos Santos is very reminiscent of Emelianenko versus Filipovic: the top heavyweight striker versus the champion heavyweight grappler. Fans new to the sport don't think much of it now, but in 2005 that fight was HUGE.

Originally Posted by Triple

If Cro Cop would have brought 1/100th of his old self into his last fight, he would have kicked Mir's head off and we wouldn't have to suffer through Mir-Lesnar III.

WEC / UFC, it's all Zuffa. I don't know why they don't just merge the two. Throwing the WEC 155-pounders into the UFC mix would be AWESOME, and guys in the lighter classes (ALDO) could use the exposure.

Good posts and I agree with ALL of it EXCEPT that even though I wanted Cain to dismantle Brock...I admit that I didn't "fully expect it".

I didn't see much of anyone else thinking it before the fight. I'm not saying you didn't...I just didn't see anyone much at all thinking it. Most just seem to think Brock was too big and strong and would take Cain down for some ground and pound...I'm glad that didn't happen.