It was a quick night for UFC champ Cain Velasquez, who easily defended his title against Antonio Silva at Saturday’s UFC 160.
The heavyweight king once again put a beating on “Bigfoot,” finishing the Brazilian just one minute and 21 seconds into the opening frame.
Velasquez looks to be back to form following his lone career loss to Junior dos Santos in 2011, rattling off three straight dominant performances en route to his current title reign. And unless someone is lucky enough to land another wild haymaker like “Cigano” did, I doubt that the belt will be changing hands anytime soon.
In every one of his fights other than his first battle with dos Santos, Velasquez has completely controlled his opponents in a way that no other previous heavyweight champ has.
One obvious key to Velasquez’s success has been his explosiveness, both with his hands and his takedowns. Other than teammate Daniel Cormier, who the champ vows to never face, there really aren’t any fighters in the division who possess the same combination of high level wrestling and powerful striking.
Velasquez’s explosive offense is the reason why he was able to overwhelm and take out “Bigfoot” in both their battles.
Another factor to Velasquez’s success has been his ability to wear down his opponents.
Whether it’s up against the fence or on the mats, the champ has been able to grind down his foes by wearing them out with his constant pressure.
A great example of this is Velasquez’s second bout with dos Santos, where he not only won his title back, but also became the first fighter in UFC history to post triple digits in significant strikes landed and double digits in takedowns landed in a single fight.
By possessing both KO power and the ability to wear people down for five rounds, I just don’t see any current heavyweight matching up well with the champ.
If you factor out Cormier, the only top contenders that remain are dos Santos, Alistair Overeem and possibly Roy Nelson.
While all three have the heavy hands and skill to land a devastating finishing blow, Velasquez just has better all-around MMA skills.
Until the heavyweight division can find someone who can match the champ both athletically and technically, I don’t see Velasquez losing the title anytime soon.
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