Cain Velasquez sits currently with a 13-1 record. He is a two-time UFC heavyweight champion and has defended his most recent crown twice.
Throughout UFC history, only Randy Couture has won the belt more times, and no one has defended the strap more than twice in a row before dropping it. Velasquez’s potential win against Fabricio Werdum in November will be historic.
Does that make him the greatest heavyweight of all time? If not, when do we deem him the greatest ever?
It is difficult not to grant him the title of greatest UFC heavyweight right now. It is obvious that he is better than Couture ever was, and he has a better resume than other notable champions. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s main success came outside of the UFC, and he has never been able to replicate his success under the UFC’s banner.
Nogueira earned his reputation in PRIDE. The Japanese company was once the premier MMA organization in the world with the top fighters in almost every division. The current greatest of all time in the eyes of many is the final PRIDE heavyweight title holder—Fedor.
Fedor Emelianenko captivated the world of MMA for years. He was, essentially, undefeated sans a TKO loss via cut in under 20 seconds during a tournament. Fedor had many notable wins, but he only defended his heavyweight title twice. He was also the 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix winner.
The Russian great would then leave to fight for Affliction and Strikeforce before finally dropping a fight in 2010. He lost to Werdum via first-round submission. Fedor followed that up with two TKO losses at the hands of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Dan Henderson, respectively.
The mystique of Fedor is still alive and well today, and many are reluctant to take off their rose-colored glasses about his career. He was a phenomenal fighter during his time, but his record is not built by facing the best of the best fight after fight. There were plenty of sideshow fights Fedor was involved in.
Velasquez has no such circus bouts on his record.
After just two professional bouts, he entered the UFC and began fighting the cream of the heavyweight crop. After going 3-0 in the UFC, the matchmakers began putting him against the top of the division, and that is where he got to truly shine.
We got to witness the former Arizona State standout develop before our eyes. His stand-up has improved dramatically to the point where he is one of the best technical boxers in the division today. He has better cardio than welterweights. He can go 25 minutes at a high pace like no heavyweight in history.
What he did to Junior dos Santos in their rematch was astonishing. It was a systematic destruction of the No. 2-ranked heavyweight in the world. Velasquez demonstrated a gap between himself and everyone else.
The legends that preceded Velasquez, such as Couture, Nogueira and Fedor, accomplished a lot. There is a reason they are regarded in such high esteem. But when you step back to look at their entire career, and their in-cage ability, they do not compare to Velasquez.
If there is anyone out there that is still on the fence that Velasquez is the greatest heavyweight of all time in this sport, they will be forced to change their opinion following Velasquez’s third title defense later this year.
At what point do we acknowledge Velasquez as the best ever? Now.
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