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[Sakara=Excitement]

'Smart' Cain Velasquez explains why he couldn't finish Junior dos Santos at UFC 155 - MMAmania.com

It wasn't for a lack of trying, but Cain Velasquez simply couldn't put away the tough as nails Junior Dos Santos in their heavyweight title fight at UFC 155 this past weekend (Dec. 29, 2012) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the highly-anticipated rematch between the top two big men in all of mixed martial arts (MMA), Velasquez got his much-desired revenge on "Cigano," the man that ended his title reign by knocking him silly in just over a minute at UFC on Fox 1 back in 2011.

Many onlookers, however, questioned Cain's punching power, seeing as how JDS was absorbing strike after strike to the dome, using his face as a shield instead of his hands, which were laying down low in an obvious sign of exhaustion.

Cain, who rocked the Brazilian bomber early in the first round, sending him crashing to the canvas, said even though he tried to end the fight via strikes, it was simply too ‘hard' to get the amount of power needed once they were on the ground.

The cardio and effort it takes to hold such a massive man down on the canvas, doesn't make it easier.

Looking to avoid punching himself out and be 'smart,' Velasquez tells ESPN he ‘slowed it down' a bit once he knew his foe had recovered. What ensued was a 25 minute punishment session that left Dos Santos battered and bruised and earned him an immediate trip to the hospital.

Cain's words:

Shane Carwin learned the hard way the dangers of punching yourself out at UFC 116 when he rocked Brock Lesnar early in the opening frame, but was unable to finish the job after he seemingly gassed out after an onslaught of failed strikes. Lesnar weathered the storm and eventually earned a second round submission victory over "The Engineer," who simply had nothing to offer after his adrenaline dump in the first round.

Looking to avoid suffering the same fate as Carwin, the former Arizona State college wrestler, Cain, slammed Junior to the canvas on more than one occasion, then proceeded to batter and bruise him for five rounds en route to a clean sweep on the judge's scorecards to reclaim his world title.

[Y2JUBAE]

Not sure what all the arguing was about on this fight. Cain did destroy JDS, but Cain couldn't finish him because JDS is a tough SOB. That's what it looked like to me. THey are both beasts.

[Kimbo> Rampage]

Yes, it could be considered "Safe" or "Smart"

I was surprised to see Cain never take JDS's back, it was there to be taken several times, but I suppose as a wrestler he may have preferred to control him instead. Also as Dana eluded to, Cain did in fact have JDS hurt several times on the feet... JDS has an excellent chin, but anyone can be put out... Cain knows how dangerous JDS is, so he may have not went for the finish.



Im definitely not hating on Cain, im a fan of his... I just appreciate the guys that do go for the finishes... while obviously having to go through danger to get there... Like Anderson, Aldo, Jones.

[1inthechamber]

Cain is usually a finisher. I think him not being able to finish isn't only on him, its also a testament to the heart of Jds even after all those shots, he still kept getting up.

[lwbrewer]

To judge a man by one fight with many finishes and only one loss is a little bit scewed veiw.

[goodtimes]

Cain did have a reputation for being "pillow fisted" before he KO'ed Big Nog. I think he has that tendency to hold back on his punches in order to hold positions. Also on the feet, JDS had his hands really low but he was rolling with the punches enough that they weren't hurting him too bad.

I think like everyone else is saying it was just a testament to JDS' toughness. He looked totally done in the 2nd round and hung in there for the entire fight.

[v3xi]

Why was JDS cardio better than Cain's in the 5th?

Why are people on these boards talking about this fight like JDS has no chance to beat Cain?

[goodtimes]

Originally Posted by v3xi

Why was JDS cardio better than Cain's in the 5th?

Why are people on these boards talking about this fight like JDS has no chance to beat Cain?

JDS is best on the outside moving a lot, and Cain is probably the best swarmer in the sport so it's just not going to work if he plays his normal game. I think his only chance is to play along the cage like Anderson has been doing lately and wear Cain down. If he can learn the strategy, I think he'd do much better in the rematch.

[Sakara=Excitement]

Originally Posted by v3xi

Why are people on these boards talking about this fight like JDS has no chance to beat Cain?

No the problem is certain JDS fanboys are trying to convince themselves that what happened, didn't actually happen.

It was one of the worst, one sided beatdowns we've seen in a long time, and people are talking down on Cain.

[AnchorPunch]

Originally Posted by Sakara=Excitement

It was one of the worst, one sided beatdowns we've seen in a long time, and people are talking down on Cain.

Yeh, I don't get that either... Cain threw some good punches, JDS is tough as nails.

If anything, Cain seemed to be trying to perserve his cardio as he definitely looked a little worn; and that's completely reasonable after throwing the punches he did and going for the takedowns he did. It was a great performance and I don't think you can take away from it.

That said, I absolutely think JDS still has a decent chance in a rematch. They might just go back and forth a few times that way, and that's awesome.

I just hope he has to fight at least one (preferably) two fights before a rematch. As a fan, I prefer a little time between those for build up and for the fighters to evolve.