Tag: daniel cormier

Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, and the Cardio Question

Filed under: UFC, UFC on FOXAsk the people who know what it’s like to have Cain Velasquez in their faces on a regular basis, and they’ll tell you that there’s a big difference between thinking you can handle the UFC heavyweight champion’s non-stop pres…

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Cain VelasquezAsk the people who know what it’s like to have Cain Velasquez in their faces on a regular basis, and they’ll tell you that there’s a big difference between thinking you can handle the UFC heavyweight champion’s non-stop pressure and actually experiencing it.

“There’s no doing it until you actually do it,” said sparring partner and former Olympic wrestling team captain Daniel Cormier. “It’s just no room to breathe. You could be winning, but he’s just in your face constantly and it wears on you, man.”

To hear Velasquez’s teammates at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose tell it, simply surviving sparring sessions with the high-energy heavyweight is tough enough. That’s why those who are familiar with Velasquez’s pace say it could be the difference-maker in the UFC on FOX bout with Junior dos Santos — especially if the fight makes it to the later rounds.

Regardless of what effect it might have on the fight, at least dos Santos knows what an important variable it could be. He said on Thursday that, in his opinion, “the best of Cain Velasquez for sure is cardio.”


“He’s got amazing stamina for this division, and for sure he’s like those unstoppable guys,” said dos Santos. “That’s going to be my challenge, is to stop him.”

But then, dos Santos hasn’t exactly had a ton of experience against fighters like Velasquez. He’s only gone the distance twice in his career, and both those opponents — first Roy Nelson and then Shane Carwin — slowed down considerably after dos Santos battered them with strikes early on.

“When you can step back and shake your arms out, it helps in terms of your cardio,” said Cormier. “When Junior was fighting Shane, he could dictate the pace and if he felt tired he could take a little break, but Cain won’t ever let him do it. If he steps back, Cain will come forward.”

As Velasquez told reporters, he’s looking for “a long, grueling fight.” If it’s long and action-packed, the UFC probably wouldn’t mind it either. The longer the fight goes, the more chance there is for fans to pass the word along via Twitter or other social networking outlets, lifting ratings as the bout wears on.

But for Velasquez, who credited his opponent with having “good cardio, especially for a heavyweight,” it’s more about turning the fight into the kind of grind that has historically favored the wrestler’s skill set over the boxer’s.

“I think with anybody else I’ve competed against, I don’t think anybody’s been able to match my cardio,” Velasquez said.

He won’t get any argument from Cormier, who’s gone against some of the best in the world in one of the most demanding cardiovascular sports out there.

“I’m in good shape, I fight at a high pace myself, and nobody wears me out,” he said. “But when we train, I get tired. I’m like, what the hell? I know I’m in shape. But it’s something about the intensity of having him always in your face.”

In a fight that’s scheduled for five rounds, even though very few people expect it to last that long, it’s that lasting intensity that could make all the difference. If, that is, both of them are still conscious to hear the words, ‘Round two.’

 

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As Hype Increases for UFC on FOX Fight, So Do Risks for Cain Velasquez

Filed under: UFC, UFC on FOXLOS ANGELES — UFC president Dana White has made no secret of what he’s hoping to see when Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos climb in the cage for the first UFC on FOX fight this Saturday night.

“You see what these two f…

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Cain Velasquez and Junior dos SantosLOS ANGELES — UFC president Dana White has made no secret of what he’s hoping to see when Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos climb in the cage for the first UFC on FOX fight this Saturday night.

“You see what these two fight like and you can pretty guarantee the way this fight is going to go,” White said at Wednesday’s press conference. “I can tell you what’s not going to happen. It’s not going to be boring, there’s not going to be any stalemating, and this fight’s going to be an absolute war.”

In other words, a cross between Griffin-Bonnar I and Hagler-Hearns might be acceptable. Anything less and it will feel like a disappointment.

But projecting such enormous expectations onto the fight could have unforeseen consequences, especially if the fighters feel an obligation to deliver a certain kind of fight in order to please their boss and make a good impression on the network TV audience.


Some segment of the viewing public might like to see the fight become a wild brawl, but that seems like an outcome that would benefit the precision striker dos Santos much more than the former All-American wrestler Velasquez. It’s not hard to imagine the champ leaving his game plan in the locker room in an attempt to deliver what White has promised, and if he does he could be looking at a fight that doesn’t necessarily play to his strengths.

If Velasquez’s camp is worried about the effect of the pressure of their fighter, however, they won’t admit it. But that doesn’t mean they recognize the danger.

“If they go out there and go crazy, it probably will be to [dos Santos’] advantage, because I think Cain has more skills than he does,” said AKA teammate and sparring partner Daniel Cormier. “…But Cain could fight the strategy that’s been laid out for him on cruise control. That’s the best thing about being at AKA, is we emphasize strategy and how we’re going to fight and our game plan and we follow it every day of the week in training. It’s not like you’re going to spar however you want. You spar according to the game plan that [head trainer Javier Mendez] sets out in front of us. You don’t abandon it.”

Undoubtedly Velasquez will benefit from having the experience of his trainers and teammates behind him, but at the same time, has any of them ever been in a fight of this magnitude? Are they fully prepared for what it might do to their fighter’s mind to have White promising a war whether Velasquez’s game plan calls for it or not?

According to Mendez, the team isn’t relying on Velasquez’s ability to block out the hype so much as his ability to deliver on it without changing anything about his fighting style.

“Cain’s going to come in and if Junior can be mauled right away, I’m sure Cain will maul him right away,” said Mendez. “But Cain’s never put on a boring fight because he’s constant action, he doesn’t stall, doesn’t hold. He’s a chain-type fighter. He’s always looking to do the most damage and get you out of there as fast as possible, so I can guarantee you this fight will be the most exciting fight in the heavyweight division. There’s no way this fight will be boring. I’d bet my life on it.”

Still, it’s an awful lot to ask for from any fighter, particularly one who’s been out of action for a little over a year. Velasquez suffered a torn rotator cuff in victory over Brock Lesnar to claim the title last October, and had surgery to repair the injured shoulder in January.

The road back wasn’t an easy one for the champ, who slipped out of fighting shape when he couldn’t train like he’d become accustomed to.

“He got big,” chuckled Cormier. “I don’t know how heavy he got, but he got big. I used to give him a hard time, calling him Mark Hunt. He didn’t like that very much.”

According to Mendez, it took about a month of gradually getting Velasquez back into good condition before they could begin the real work.

“In the beginning it was hard,” Mendez said. “I was having him just do footwork stuff and he was so out of shape, he got tired just doing footwork. He had a callous on the bottom of his foot and he ripped it so I had to have him stop. It went from that to where he is now, which is pretty amazing.”

But even as Velasquez and dos Santos both swear that they’ve barely noticed the added pressure for this fight, those around them certainly have.

“It’s bigger,” said Cormier. “It means a lot more. But I think those guys are trained to ignore it, and that’s good. When you’re in the fight, whether it’s on FOX or on Spike or in a damn garage somewhere, you have to focus on the fight. That’s really all that matters. But for everyone else around, we know it’s bigger. You can feel that it means so much for the sport. If they go out and lay an egg, it’s not going to be good.”

Even Mendez, who initially insisted that it felt like any other fight, had to stop himself and admit, “well, you know, actually I’m probably lying about that.”

There’s no use in denying it: this is a different kind of fight. If Velasquez and dos Santos didn’t know it already, they found out when they showed up to the presser and White started making promises and guarantees on their behalf.

“Give me my entire roster of guys, make every one of them healthy, and this is still the fight I’d pick,” said White. “This is the fight that I picked to put on network television, and it is important, and I picked this fight for a reason.”

With the bar set that high, it would be easy to get a reckless while trying to reach it.

 

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Daniel Cormier Open to Fighting Teammate Cain Velasquez


(Photo courtesy of Tracy Lee/Yahoo!Sports)

Don’t assume that just because American Kickboxing Academy teammates Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch refuse to fight each other that there is a policy in place at AKA like the one that Greg Jackson instituted regarding his charges competing against each other.

In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite.

AKA co-founder Javier Mendez explained to Yahoo! Sport’s Dave Meltzer recently that he doesn’t have an opinion on his fighters fighting each other and that he doesn’t get involved in the decision making process when it comes to fights being offered to two of his guys like they have been by UFC president Dana White to Koscheck and Fitch.

“My standpoint is it is up to the fighters,” said Mendez. “I back both my fighters with whatever decision they make. If they both agree and the organizations want it, then it will happen and it’s nothing personal.

And Mendez isn’t the only one at the California gym who doesn’t bat away any suggestion of an inter-team showdown. Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finalist Daniel Cormier has expressed an interest in facing UFC heavyweight champ and main training partner, UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez if the money is right and if it doesnt harm their friendship.


(Photo courtesy of Tracy Lee/Yahoo!Sports)

Don’t assume that just because American Kickboxing Academy teammates Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch refuse to fight each other that there is a policy in place at AKA like the one that Greg Jackson instituted regarding his charges competing against each other.

In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite.

AKA co-founder Javier Mendez explained to Yahoo! Sport’s Dave Meltzer recently that he doesn’t have an opinion on his fighters fighting each other and that he doesn’t get involved in the decision making process when it comes to fights being offered to two of his guys like they have been by UFC president Dana White to Koscheck and Fitch.

“My standpoint is it is up to the fighters,” said Mendez. “I back both my fighters with whatever decision they make. If they both agree and the organizations want it, then it will happen and it’s nothing personal.

And Mendez isn’t the only one at the California gym who doesn’t bat away any suggestion of an inter-team showdown. Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finalist Daniel Cormier has expressed an interest in facing UFC heavyweight champ and main training partner, UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez if the money is right and if it doesnt harm their friendship.

“He’s a friend,” said Cormier. “I’ve trained him for all of his recent fights. I cornered him. We face each other every day in sparring.It’ll be a very difficult fight for us to do. It will have to be worth it to us financially. We share the same coaches and the same management team. We’d have to address this as a group, with [manager] Bob Cook, Javier.”

Mendez says that if both fighters decide that there will be no hard feelings between them, then he would be okay with the heavyweight tilt going down as well if it’s offered.

“We’ll have to set up separate camps and take care of them as best we can. Daniel [Cormier] has talked about it before. Whatever Daniel wants, I’ll back 100 percent. If Cain says, ‘No,’ guess what I’m going to do? I’ll be behind Cain.”

Although he says he would fight Velasquez, Cormier says that he would much rather find a better solution for his career aspiration of one day wearing UFC gold.

“I don’t want to be just a good fighter. I want to be the best in the world. I could be in line for a championship, but if it came down to us, I’d much rather go to 205,” Cormier explains. “That would eliminate a lot of things. We have a great thing going at AKA — to avoid a lot of negatives, to avoid people having to choose sides, I’d rather move to 205, maybe beat someone and then face Jon Jones. I’d have to have that fight instead of Cain.”

Cain mentioned last month that he’d lock horns with Cormier as well, so if he gets past dos Santos and Cormier can beat Barnett, then Joe Silva could very well have his first heavyweight title defense of 2012 already in the bag.

Strikeforce Deathwatch: ‘Bigfoot’ Silva’s Manager ‘Sure’ His Client Will Be in UFC Soon


(Exhibit ‘G’ in the murder case against Dana White and the Fertittas)

In spite of the fact that Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva’s stock in the heavyweight division dropped a few points following his knockout loss to Daniel Cormier in the semi-finals of Strikeforce’s heavyweight grand prix, his manager, Alex Davis is confident that his client’s next fight will be in the UFC’s Octagon.

“He has a contract with Strikeforce, but Strikeforce is now controlled by the UFC and we’re watching Strikeforce fighters going to the UFC all the time,” Davis told TATAME in a recent interview. “UFC’s heavyweight division is big, but they could have even more [top talent] and I’m sure Bigfoot will be in the UFC real soon. There’s a lot of great fights for him inside the Octagon, and he’ll shine there.”


(Exhibit ‘G’ in the murder case against Dana White and the Fertittas)

In spite of the fact that Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva’s stock in the heavyweight division dropped a few points following his knockout loss to Daniel Cormier in the semi-finals of Strikeforce’s heavyweight grand prix, his manager, Alex Davis is confident that his client’s next fight will be in the UFC’s Octagon.

“He has a contract with Strikeforce, but Strikeforce is now controlled by the UFC and we’re watching Strikeforce fighters going to the UFC all the time,” Davis told TATAME in a recent interview. “UFC’s heavyweight division is big, but they could have even more [top talent] and I’m sure Bigfoot will be in the UFC real soon. There’s a lot of great fights for him inside the Octagon, and he’ll shine there.”

Although the report went on to state that “nothing is official” yet in regards to Silva’s migration to the UFC, there must be a reason why Davis feels so strongly that it’s going to happen, whether it be a conversation he had with the UFC brass or rumors that are swirling amongst industry insiders. If Silva does jump over from Strikeforce, the move will be further proof that Zuffa has no plans to keep it’s “B” league afloat. Considering that Strikeforce’s biggest asset is arguably its heavyweight roster, if the UFC picks it clean like it did the promotion’s champions like Dan Henderson, Nick Diaz and Alistair Overeem, the writing on the wall couldn’t be any clearer.

With Hand in Cast for Two Months, Daniel Cormier Faces ‘Worst-Case Scenario’

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Daniel CormierDaniel Cormier knew his right hand was broken almost as soon as it connected with Antonio Silva‘s head, but it took a while for the pain to set in.

“It was just the adrenaline,” he told MMA Fighting this week. “I was on such a high.”

Maybe that explains why Cormier kept hitting Silva with his broken hand throughout the first round of their Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinal bout, and why he thinks it was lucky for him that the fight ended in the first round.

As Cormier explained, “If we’d have fought 15 minutes, I’d have kept throwing that thing all 15 minutes.”

It was only when the Strikeforce heavyweight and former Olympic wrestler woke up on Sunday morning that the pain really set in. Then he knew it was almost certainly broken, and a trip to the doctor back home confirmed his suspicion.

On Friday, Cormier’s hand goes into a cast for the next six to eight weeks. During that time he plans to work on improving his kicks and his cardio, he said, but even when the cast comes off he doesn’t know how long it will be before he’s able to “start punching” and get back into full training and sparring mode.

It’s a difficult situation, since he doesn’t want to rush it and end up re-injuring himself. Then again, he knows Strikeforce wants to wrap up the Grand Prix in the first quarter of 2012, which means he needs to be ready to fight fellow finalist Josh Barnett by then or else risk being replaced.

“This is terrible for me, man,” Cormier said. “This is worst-case scenario. With when they want the fight to happen, and me being the kind of guy who wants to deliver those type of fights, to have an injury like this. The thing that makes it so difficult is, I think Josh is so good. I need to have a ten-week training camp to prepare for that fight, so this is worst-case scenario for me.”

As Cormier sat at the post-fight press conference last Saturday night, listening to Strikeforce’s Scott Coker saying that the organization “would consider another fight” if Cormier wasn’t available in time for the finals, he wasn’t terribly shocked, he said.

“I guess I was thinking that the show has to go on. I really do want to be a part of it. It means a lot to me, knowing I got this opportunity, and I saw that [Grand Prix] belt and I instantly wanted that belt. I want to be one of the champions in Strikeforce, because that’s where I started. It’s where I had my first fight. …But I can’t act that surprised, because I got my opportunity [to join the Grand Prix] for the same exact reason.”

The last time Cormier had an injury this serious was when he broke his arm wrestling in 2002. That healed faster than doctors expected, he said, so he’s “just hoping I have something in me that makes me heal fast so I can start training, and get the type of training camp I need to fight Josh.”

Cormier’s big concern is not just that he won’t be ready in time, he said. While Strikeforce hasn’t announced a date for the Grand Prix finals yet, he should be out his cast by mid-November and could be ready to start sparring at least by early 2012, if not sooner. But will that leave him enough time to get a full training camp in before he fights Barnett? And if not, what then?

“Everybody always tells me that I made big improvements from fight to fight to fight,” Cormier said. “Well, if I’m injured for two months, what if I don’t make that much of an improvement from my last fight to the fight with Josh? That’s why I say it’s worst-case. This is the fight where I have to make the most improvement just to be where I need to be to beat the guy.”

As Cormier sees it, “I have to win this fight.”

And yet, with his right hand in a cast for the next six to eight weeks, there isn’t a whole lot he can do at the moment to move himself closer to that goal. Maybe the best he can do now is wait and hope.

 

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Daniel CormierDaniel Cormier knew his right hand was broken almost as soon as it connected with Antonio Silva‘s head, but it took a while for the pain to set in.

“It was just the adrenaline,” he told MMA Fighting this week. “I was on such a high.”

Maybe that explains why Cormier kept hitting Silva with his broken hand throughout the first round of their Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinal bout, and why he thinks it was lucky for him that the fight ended in the first round.

As Cormier explained, “If we’d have fought 15 minutes, I’d have kept throwing that thing all 15 minutes.”


It was only when the Strikeforce heavyweight and former Olympic wrestler woke up on Sunday morning that the pain really set in. Then he knew it was almost certainly broken, and a trip to the doctor back home confirmed his suspicion.

On Friday, Cormier’s hand goes into a cast for the next six to eight weeks. During that time he plans to work on improving his kicks and his cardio, he said, but even when the cast comes off he doesn’t know how long it will be before he’s able to “start punching” and get back into full training and sparring mode.

It’s a difficult situation, since he doesn’t want to rush it and end up re-injuring himself. Then again, he knows Strikeforce wants to wrap up the Grand Prix in the first quarter of 2012, which means he needs to be ready to fight fellow finalist Josh Barnett by then or else risk being replaced.

“This is terrible for me, man,” Cormier said. “This is worst-case scenario. With when they want the fight to happen, and me being the kind of guy who wants to deliver those type of fights, to have an injury like this. The thing that makes it so difficult is, I think Josh is so good. I need to have a ten-week training camp to prepare for that fight, so this is worst-case scenario for me.”

As Cormier sat at the post-fight press conference last Saturday night, listening to Strikeforce’s Scott Coker saying that the organization “would consider another fight” if Cormier wasn’t available in time for the finals, he wasn’t terribly shocked, he said.

“I guess I was thinking that the show has to go on. I really do want to be a part of it. It means a lot to me, knowing I got this opportunity, and I saw that [Grand Prix] belt and I instantly wanted that belt. I want to be one of the champions in Strikeforce, because that’s where I started. It’s where I had my first fight. …But I can’t act that surprised, because I got my opportunity [to join the Grand Prix] for the same exact reason.”

The last time Cormier had an injury this serious was when he broke his arm wrestling in 2002. That healed faster than doctors expected, he said, so he’s “just hoping I have something in me that makes me heal fast so I can start training, and get the type of training camp I need to fight Josh.”

Cormier’s big concern is not just that he won’t be ready in time, he said. While Strikeforce hasn’t announced a date for the Grand Prix finals yet, he should be out his cast by mid-November and could be ready to start sparring at least by early 2012, if not sooner. But will that leave him enough time to get a full training camp in before he fights Barnett? And if not, what then?

“Everybody always tells me that I made big improvements from fight to fight to fight,” Cormier said. “Well, if I’m injured for two months, what if I don’t make that much of an improvement from my last fight to the fight with Josh? That’s why I say it’s worst-case. This is the fight where I have to make the most improvement just to be where I need to be to beat the guy.”

As Cormier sees it, “I have to win this fight.”

And yet, with his right hand in a cast for the next six to eight weeks, there isn’t a whole lot he can do at the moment to move himself closer to that goal. Maybe the best he can do now is wait and hope.

 

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MMA Top 10 Heavyweights: Daniel Cormier Shows He’s for Real

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It’s been a busy time in the heavyweight division in mixed martial arts: The UFC has announced that Cain Velasquez will defend the heavyweight title against Junior dos Santos on Fox, that Brock Lesnar will return against former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem in what should be the year’s biggest pay-per-view, and that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will attempt to continue his comeback with a rematch against Frank Mir.

But the most exciting thing to happen in the heavyweight division recently has been the emergence of Daniel Cormier.

Cormier didn’t just win against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinal. He won in devastating fashion and did it by out-striking Silva, not by out-wrestling him, which most people thought was Cormier’s only path to victory. The victory vaults Cormier into the heavyweight Top 10, which is below.

Top 10 Heavyweights in MMA
(Editor’s note: The individual fighter’s ranking the last time we did heavyweights are in parentheses.)

1. Cain Velasquez (1): The champion will finally return to the Octagon against Junior dos Santos in November, after more than a year away. He says he’s at full strength after shoulder surgery. He’ll need to be against dos Santos, who’s a better striker than anyone Velasquez has ever faced.

2. Junior dos Santos (2): In a sign of how big the dos Santos-Velasquez fight is going to be, Fox was advertising it during its Week 1 NFL games. That’s the kind of promotion that will bring these two heavyweights — and the UFC — to a whole new audience.

3. Alistair Overeem (3): By signing to face Lesnar at the end of the year, Overeem has accepted the biggest challenge of his MMA career: Overeem has never faced anyone as physically strong as Lesnar, or anyone with Lesnar’s wrestling pedigree. Overeem won’t be able to throw Lesnar around or bully him in the clinch, the way he’s been able to do against so many of his recent opponents.

4. Brock Lesnar (4): The big problem Lesnar had in his last two fights is that he didn’t react well to getting hit in the face by Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez. That could become an even bigger problem when he faces Overeem, who’s an absolutely devastating striker.

5. Fabricio Werdum (5): Werdum is the best Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner in the heavyweight division and a threat to submit anyone he faces, but at the moment it’s hard to see where he goes: Fans aren’t exactly clamoring to see him again after his lackluster performance in his June loss to Overeem, and the uncertain future of Strikeforce may have him waiting around for a while before he finds his next fight.

6. Daniel Cormier (NR): Cormier is an Olympic wrestler and maybe the best pure wrestler in all of MMA, but what’s so impressive about Cormier is how far his striking has come. Cormier made a conscious effort to turn himself into a well-rounded mixed martial artist rather than simply a wrestler who plays to his strengths in the cage, and the results on display in his knockout win over Bigfoot were stunning. Cormier is now 9-0 and a real force in the heavyweight division.

7. Shane Carwin (7): Carwin is now on a two-fight losing streak, but there’s no shame in losing to Lesnar and dos Santos. The bigger question facing Carwin is whether he’s lost some of his devastating power. The 36-year-old, 255-pound Carwin who lost to dos Santos didnt’ look nearly as powerful as the 35-year-old, 265-pound Carwin who knocked out Frank Mir.

8. Frank Mir (8): Mir should be favored to beat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira again in their December rematch. If he does, he’ll position himself to make another run at the UFC heavyweight title in 2012, although he’ll have to get in line behind the Lesnar-Overeem winner.

9. Josh Barnett (10): Barnett is now on an eight-fight winning streak, and he hasn’t lost since meeting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in Pride in 2006. He’ll have his hands full in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix final, however, as he won’t be able to take down Daniel Cormier and control him on the ground, which was Barnett’s path to victory over Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov.

10. Antonio Silva (6): The way Silva dropped like a sack of potatoes against Cormier raises some questions about his striking defense, but Silva is still a big talent who could potentially have some very interesting matchups against heavyweights in either Strikeforce or the UFC.

 

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Filed under: , , ,

It’s been a busy time in the heavyweight division in mixed martial arts: The UFC has announced that Cain Velasquez will defend the heavyweight title against Junior dos Santos on Fox, that Brock Lesnar will return against former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem in what should be the year’s biggest pay-per-view, and that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will attempt to continue his comeback with a rematch against Frank Mir.

But the most exciting thing to happen in the heavyweight division recently has been the emergence of Daniel Cormier.

Cormier didn’t just win against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinal. He won in devastating fashion and did it by out-striking Silva, not by out-wrestling him, which most people thought was Cormier’s only path to victory. The victory vaults Cormier into the heavyweight Top 10, which is below.

Top 10 Heavyweights in MMA
(Editor’s note: The individual fighter’s ranking the last time we did heavyweights are in parentheses.)

1. Cain Velasquez (1): The champion will finally return to the Octagon against Junior dos Santos in November, after more than a year away. He says he’s at full strength after shoulder surgery. He’ll need to be against dos Santos, who’s a better striker than anyone Velasquez has ever faced.

2. Junior dos Santos (2): In a sign of how big the dos Santos-Velasquez fight is going to be, Fox was advertising it during its Week 1 NFL games. That’s the kind of promotion that will bring these two heavyweights — and the UFC — to a whole new audience.

3. Alistair Overeem (3): By signing to face Lesnar at the end of the year, Overeem has accepted the biggest challenge of his MMA career: Overeem has never faced anyone as physically strong as Lesnar, or anyone with Lesnar’s wrestling pedigree. Overeem won’t be able to throw Lesnar around or bully him in the clinch, the way he’s been able to do against so many of his recent opponents.

4. Brock Lesnar (4): The big problem Lesnar had in his last two fights is that he didn’t react well to getting hit in the face by Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez. That could become an even bigger problem when he faces Overeem, who’s an absolutely devastating striker.

5. Fabricio Werdum (5): Werdum is the best Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner in the heavyweight division and a threat to submit anyone he faces, but at the moment it’s hard to see where he goes: Fans aren’t exactly clamoring to see him again after his lackluster performance in his June loss to Overeem, and the uncertain future of Strikeforce may have him waiting around for a while before he finds his next fight.

6. Daniel Cormier (NR): Cormier is an Olympic wrestler and maybe the best pure wrestler in all of MMA, but what’s so impressive about Cormier is how far his striking has come. Cormier made a conscious effort to turn himself into a well-rounded mixed martial artist rather than simply a wrestler who plays to his strengths in the cage, and the results on display in his knockout win over Bigfoot were stunning. Cormier is now 9-0 and a real force in the heavyweight division.

7. Shane Carwin (7): Carwin is now on a two-fight losing streak, but there’s no shame in losing to Lesnar and dos Santos. The bigger question facing Carwin is whether he’s lost some of his devastating power. The 36-year-old, 255-pound Carwin who lost to dos Santos didnt’ look nearly as powerful as the 35-year-old, 265-pound Carwin who knocked out Frank Mir.

8. Frank Mir (8): Mir should be favored to beat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira again in their December rematch. If he does, he’ll position himself to make another run at the UFC heavyweight title in 2012, although he’ll have to get in line behind the Lesnar-Overeem winner.

9. Josh Barnett (10): Barnett is now on an eight-fight winning streak, and he hasn’t lost since meeting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in Pride in 2006. He’ll have his hands full in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix final, however, as he won’t be able to take down Daniel Cormier and control him on the ground, which was Barnett’s path to victory over Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov.

10. Antonio Silva (6): The way Silva dropped like a sack of potatoes against Cormier raises some questions about his striking defense, but Silva is still a big talent who could potentially have some very interesting matchups against heavyweights in either Strikeforce or the UFC.

 

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