I admit it: I didn’t know much about Cain Velasquez before his UFC debut. Word had it he was a big time college wrestler, a two-time All-American at Arizona State and Pac-10 wrestler of the year in 2005. Call me cynical, but it’s hard to accept that at face value these days. Plenty of guys are great college wrestlers, only to become mediocre once they lace up the gloves.
Velasquez (3-0), however, seems like he might have a real future. He dismantled Brad Morris (9-3) in their undercard bout, and while Morris was also making his UFC debut – and while a win over him may or may not mean a great deal – it doesn’t change the fact that Velasquez looked good on Saturday night.
There’s something about a decorated wrestler who’s won all of his first three bouts via TKO that you have to like. Sure, Jake O’Brien started the same way before eventually being dropped from the UFC for reasons that seemed at least partially style-related, but with Velasquez training at AKA and putting people away like this, he seems like he might be someone to keep your eye on in the heavyweight division.
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On the other hand, Morris was showing enough defense to keep the fight from being stopped sooner. He was seeing stars and exhausted, yet still managed to keep what little he had of his cool intact and at least keep himself from going unconscious. Then again, you have to be able to give more of a beating than you can take to win a fight, unless you're Homer Simpson.