UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez Post-Fight Recap and Analysis

But since I have countless comments in the Archives since this fight was announced about how Brock would lose. Where I was hated upon relentlessly, called a fool by many and told I know nothing about MMA by a few more. I can’t say that I am really happy, because I actually believed I knew what the result would be, and it went down about like I thought(and wrote several times) it would.

I was thankful to see 3 out of the 8 BE writers pick Cain(2 by TKO), that was enough for me to even continue to read their articles in the future.

I was really disappointed by one though, because I was beginning to think that myself and Brookhouse were channeling each others thoughts and I was almost certain that, like me he would have seen the Carwin fight as an omen for things to come, along with the huge, rapid improvement that Cain showed after the Kongo fight. Nope, he got rolled up in the hype train, “Brock by GnP, R2”

But, alas.. not all of you had the privilege of seeing Cain up close, working out at AKA. In the end, I saw him face much harder opposition in the sparring and rolling sessions there than he did tonight. He must be thinking… wow, that was easy!

Jake won one and two and Kampmann won the third

Mir’s no longer relevant. Prefer Carwin Lesnar 2.

Cain Velasquez fulfilled his destiny. I first heard about Velasquez on the Jordan Breen Show back in 2008 before his debut at UFC 83. Even then, with a 2-0 record compiled in the pre-Fedor Strikeforce and the post-Fedor Bodog Fight, Jordan hyped up Velasquez not just as a blue-chip heavyweight prospect, but as the modern-era version of Fedor Emelianenko. I bought into the hype from day one, and I regret falling in love with the size, strength, and athleticism of the South Dakota farmboy. Maybe “regret” is not the right word. And while I’m not unsure of Cain’s ability to carry the UFC on his shoulders, I’m excited to witness his career bloom.

I think that is WAY too much too soon. Yes, he demolished Lesnar in a way that should make all of Lesnar’s previous victims seething with a mix of jealousy and pride, but let’s see him get another win under his belt at least, eh?

Where does Brock Lesnar go from here? Junior dos Santos is lined up for the next title shot. Shane Carwin is fighting Roy Nelson. Pitting Brock with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira might find Dana White and Joe Silva charged with manslaughter or worse. Brandon Schaub? Seems like a huge step up that he isn’t ready for. Which leaves…the Frank Mir rubber match!

Probably the most likely option for Brock at this point.

This fight was huge. “Brock Lesnar” and “Velasquez” were trending on Twitter for hours leading up to the event. That, as far as I can recall, is a first for a UFC pay-per-view. An hour and a half after the end of the main event, the following phrases are trending on Twitter: Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, #ufc121, Lesner, Heavyweight, Brown Pride. On the same night as the deciding game of a major league championship series, six of the top ten trending topics on Twitter are MMA/UFC related

Yep – I’m wondering about the aftermath of this fight though. Was Cain’s performance enough to turn some of those paying Brock fans over to his side when the time comes for him to headline a card?

I scored the Shields/Kampmann fight 29-28 for Martin Kampmann. Again, by this part of the night I had consumed my fair share of adult beverages and was rooting heavily for the Dane. Round one goes to Shields for controlling the fight and outgrappling Kampmann. Round two goes to Kampmann, who rocked Shields twice with knees. Round three goes to Kampmann who won the fight standing while Shields did nothing with his top control on the floor. In any case, someone needs to bring me the head of the judge who scored that fight 30-27

Close fight, but I still had Shields winning. 30-27 though was definitely not an accurate scoring.

Speaking of bad scores, who turned in the 30-26 Sanchez card? The first round of this fight looked like a continuation of Diego Sanchez’s fight with John Hathaway. Sanchez fought with the inspiration of a conscientious objector. My notes following the round read as follows: “Thiago taking fight to Diego.” Diego turned it on in round two, with the turning point being his banshee-screaming slam of Paulo Thiago in the middle of round two. Yet, the first round was all Brazilian, and one judge awarded it to Sanchez. How?

Probably the same judge who had 30-27 for Shields. But the other two judges had it right – Diego still won that fight.

The decline of Tito Ortiz continues. Ortiz again came out strong in a fight. He pushed forward, stayed active, and won round one on my card. He remained competitive in round two, but lost all hope in the third round. Matt Hamill plodded with his hands swaying at his hips, taunting Ortiz to land strikes to the head. Instead, Ortiz took slow power shot after slow power shot until succumbing to a takedown late in the fight. Ortiz is still durable enough to play the gatekeeper role at 205, but is that a role he’s interested in fulfilling?

Of course he would. It’s steady income…if Dana’s interested in keeping him around, that is. Dana’s probably never had more justification for letting Ortiz go than he has now. We’ll see what happens, but judging from Dana’s recent comments, I’m starting to think we’ll see an announcement concerning Tito’s future with the UFC shortly. I was almost thinking Dana would keep him just to deprive Strikeforce a name fight but….really – four losses and a draw in his liast five fights. when was Tito’s last, non-controversial, truly viable win? Shamrock was a faded legend when Tito put the exclamation point on him, and some people still think he lost the first Forrest fight too. So who was it – Cote? Belfort? That’s 5 – 6 years without a chamoionship/contender worthy win.

Brandon Schaub, legitimate heavyweight prospect. Gabriel Gonzaga, confirmed heavyweight gatekeeper. Schaub could have done more to finish off Gonzaga, but I’m also impressed with his ability to control a fight against a legitimate heavyweight for fifteen minutes. Gonzaga is the bigger story here as I think he cemented his spot as the UFC’s gatekeeper at 265. He looked slow and hesitant from the opening bell and lacked the urgency that’s all-too-common with fighters down two rounds heading into the final minutes of a bout.

Still not sold on Schaub as a legitimate prospect. He didn’t look as impressive as Carwin or JDS did against GG. So, Gonzaga vs. Kongo, loser leaves town?

Patrick Cote is who I thought he was. My reason for picking Tom Lawlor? (The dissenting opinion, might I add.) “Cote’s lost to anybody with any sort of wrestling background.”

Pretty long fall for Cote from contending for the title and calling out Bisping. Maybe the UFC can do another TUF: The Comeback?