THE TORCH: THE #1 WORLDWIDE BRAND IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE - OVER 250 MILLION VIEWS & LISTENS PER YEAR REREACHING MORE FANS EVERY WEEK THAN ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCE • VIA THE WEB, MOBILE, PRINT NEWSLETTER, AND ITUNES
Opinion & Analysis
:
Roundtables
ROUNDTABLE (pt. 1 of 2): What are your early thoughts on the Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez fight at UFC 121? Perez, Bacior, Hobaugh, Marsh and Pelkey
What are your early thoughts on how Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez match up in their UFC 121 showdown?
ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez are going to have an epic match-up. I still believe the only fighter in the division that is going to be able to beat Lesnar is Shane Carwin, so I see Velasquez doing the same Carwin did to Lesnar - give him trouble early - and then Lesnar comes out and demolishes Velasquez. But seeing as how Lesnar continues to evolve his game, it really could be however he wants to end it.
MIKE BACIOR, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Well we know that Cain won't gass like Carwin did, but he also has to deal with a signifigant size disadvantage, and he does not have quite the power that Carwin does. But he has also shown himself to be a very smart fighter who improves everytime, and if he does find a way to hurt Brock, I feel he won't let him off the hook (keep in mind, I give Brock all the credit he deserves for surviving the beating he took last month). However, I feel Cain gets better and better, and his very technical skills could be the difference.
ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH SPECIALIST
The fight with Carwin showed Brock can be hurt. As much as I
want to see Lesnar get beat, Velasquez is not a big enough fighter to keep Lesnar away from him and keep the fight standing long enough to capitalize on his striking weaknesses. In my opinion, Brock wins this one sided fight easily.
GRIFFIN MARSH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
I do believe a great striker with solid wrestling will beat Brock, however I'm not sure Cain is that man. He has shown good boxing skills, solid wrestling ability and great cardio. And when you think about the skills needed to beat Brock Lesnar, those would definitely be at the top. I just am not convinced Cain has what it takes to beat Brock. If he can take Brock into the 4th and 5th rounds, he will most likely win the fight. If he allows Brock to get every take-down and spends a lot of time on his back, it's another notch in Brock's belt.
MATT PELKEY, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
I liked Cain in the match up before the Lesnar-Carwin fight, and after coming down from the high that was the main event of UFC 116, I still favor Velasquez. Cain isn't the block of muscle that Shane Carwin is. He has the cardio to hang five rounds and the quickness to avoid Brock's doubles. He also has the striking (although not the power) to give Lesnar fits on the feet. Keeping in mind my right to change my mind any time I want, my early prediction is that Velasquez stays on his feet and outworks Lesnar to either a late stoppage or clear-cut decision win.
ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.
"There's still a large contingent of people, that they just want to see these guys almost die, or the other guy almost die and come back, and sometimes fights are like that. Certainly they are. But sometimes you get technical masterpieces too, and to hate a beautiful, technical fight - you're not really a fight fan...
Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...
"There was a lot of poison going on around there and I'm really disappointed because we had a good thing going. It was a good thing and I think people's egos got in the way. Well, not people just Javier, his ego got in the way, and too many cameras in the gym and him trying to build himself up and his brand, his AKA brand...