Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos will go down in UFC history as the great heavyweight trilogy that wasn’t. Dos Santos took the first fight in just over a minute when Cain was seriously injured. In the ten rounds that followed, he never again came close.
Velasquez delivered an extended beatdown rivaling anything we’ve ever seen in the Octagon, not once, but twice. At UFC 166 the beating was so one-sided and ugly that everyone but the medical professionals on hand wanted to see the fight stopped. Velasquez landed power shots over and over again, until, inevitably, dos Santos couldn’t even stand.
This wasn’t a rivalry. It was a rout.
The inevitable question is what comes next for the champion. If dos Santos, who has likewise run through the heavyweight division, isn’t a match for Velasquez, is anybody?
He’s beaten the best wrestler in the division, former NCAA champion Brock Lesnar. Legendary submission artist Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira met his match as well. Dos Santos was arguably the hardest puncher in heavyweight history. We saw how he measured up.
That’s every archetype there is in MMA. There is no style of fighter Velasquez hasn’t met—and bested. His striking is good enough to beat a wrestler. His wrestling is too good to allow a jiu-jitsu man to take him to the mat and control him. And, as we saw against dos Santos, he can either ground a striker or push him up against the cage where his punching power and opportunities are limited.
This combination of talents makes Velasquez the most complete heavyweight in UFC history. Even the great Fedor Emelianenko didn’t possess skill on this level and of this variety. But he’s not perfect. His lack of punching power will always allow foes to stay in the fight. He was head and shoulders above dos Santos and couldn’t put him away.
It didn’t come back to haunt him at UFC 166. It might, however, one day in the not so distant future. Velasquez can be knocked out. Anybody can. And, lacking world-class punching power or a dynamic submission game, Velasquez is destined to be in a ton of grinding fights. With no surefire way to finish, Velasquez’s success is predicated on perfection. Twenty-five minutes, however, is a long time to be perfect.
In a way, Velsquez’s all too human flaw is actually a good thing, at least for MMA fans looking for competitive and exciting fights. It means his opponent will always be in the fight.
Cain Velasquez is the best heavyweight in MMA history. But he’s not invincible. That should give opponents, and fans, a lot to look forward to as we watch him continue his Hall of Fame career.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com