After watching Cain fail to stop Cheick Kongo despite landing hundreds of head shots, and after watching Brock ride out the storm of Shane Carwin's best attacks, I really didn't think Cain would have the strength and the firepower to finish Brock. I was wrong. Boy, was I wrong. Cain Velasquez is clearly the real deal. He was strong enough and skilful enough to get to his feet after being taken down by the bigger, stronger man, and then his stand-up game matched the effectiveness of his grappling/ground game when he blitzed Brock with hard, accurate power shots. Velasquez is extremely versatile, strong, powerful, determined... he is a heavyweight with well-rounded abilities and what looks like great cardio. There aren't many heavyweights around to match those attributes. Right now, I'd back Cain to beat Carwin, Mir, or anyone else in the UFC heavyweight division... ...except his next challenger, Junior Dos Santos. Joe Rogan gave Cain Velasquez the Kiss Of Death, when he proclaimed the start of "a new era". Last time he said this was when he heralded the Machida Era, which promptly saw Machida meet his match in the form of Shogun Rua. I think the same thing will happen this time. Velasquez, like Machida, is a sensational fighter, but I think his first challenger will be a bad match-up for him. Junior Dos Santos has better boxing skills than Cain, does not give away any advantage in size or youth to the new champion, and JDS has some of the best takedown defence I've seen in a heavyweight fighter. It will be a fantastic fight between two great young fighters, but I have a feeling Rogan will be left embarrassed by his comments yet again!!
