Antonio Silva (blue trunks) is no stranger to scoring dark horse victories which he can do again if he can manage to touch Cain Velasquez’s chin. (Photo courtesy of Zuffa, LLC.)
For the UFC 160 main event this weekend, MMA fans will get to see Cain Velasquez (11-1) defend his belt against the man he had to beat in order to get his second title shot, although this time when he meets “Bigfoot” Antonio Silva (18-4) the UFC Heavyweight Championship will be on the line. The first time they faced each other Velazquez was able to cut “Bigfoot” early in round one and cruise to an easy TKO victory. Some believe that Velazquez cutting Silva is what won him the fight, however, even before the elbow from Cain, Silva was unable to mount any significant offense or defense to slow or stop Velasquez. Surely for their rematch Silva will have evaluated where he went wrong the first time around and find a way to slow the attack of Cain Velasquez – or won’t he?
Much of the allure and mystique of the former Strikeforce heavyweights transplanted to the UFC has vanished. They have all beaten each other or have been beaten by a UFC roster member. As a result, ranking them among the UFC fighters has proven difficult and at times resulted in lopsided match-ups. Fabricio Werdum (16-5-1) lost to “The Demolition Man” Alistair Overeem (36-12) before they moved to the UFC, but then Antonio Silva defeated “The ‘Reem” via knockout in a match that many had assumed would be Overeem’s clear path to facing the UFC Heavyweight Champion. This pairing is what remained after Silva ruined the UFC’s plans.
As usual it would be foolhardy to count out Silva or to guarantee a victory for Velasquez. One could point to the fact that Velasquez has a blatant weakness in his chin; twice was Check Kongo (18-8-2) able to drop Velasquez in his loss to the champion. Also, one cannot forget how easily former champion Junior Dos Santos (15-2) was able to knock out the champion in their first bout. While Velasquez has many tools in his arsenal and is an outstanding fighter, a fight with him can be over in seconds if his opponent is able to land a solid blow. Silva certainly has the power in his hands to knock out the champion. If he is able to land, it is not even a far-fetched scenario for him to win the belt with a highlight-reel knockout of Velasquez.
The aforementioned scenario is not without flaws, however. Though the champion may have a suspect chin, his strengths are enough to remind fans of how he became top dog in the first place. Just rewind the clock one year to Velasquez’s first encounter with “Bigfoot” when he was able to score a takedown within the first 30 seconds of the fight which, unbeknownst to Silva, ended his night before it even started. From there Velazquez utilized multiple aspects of his skill set to put an end to the bout. His superior wrestling prowess helped him secure position to land significant strikes to the downed challenger, cutting him with a short elbow and impairing his vision. After many unanswered blows to the head, referee Josh Rosenthal was forced to call off the match and award the victory to the AKA product. Aside from his varied and effective technique the champ’s exemplary cardio kept the pedal to the metal enough to where Silva wasn’t even afforded the opportunity to recover, a key component to Velasquez’s success.
Every fight starts on the feet. Maybe “Bigfoot” can hope to stay on his big feet long enough to connect and put another upset notch in his belt – that is, if he can find a way to match the hand speed of the champion. This one has “easy win” for the champion written all over it. However, Silva is not out of it as long as he keeps swinging for the fences.
