MMA Origins: Cain Velasquez

Dethroned again

The way Velasquez lost in Mexico City came as such a surprise that it spawned its own meme amongst the online MMA fanbase – namely “Sea Level Cain”, the idea that Velasquez minus the altitude was still unbeatable. UFC President Dana White apparently bought into the idea too and booked an immediate rematch between the two – albeit seven months later in February 2016, due to – what else? – Cain needing some time off to heal nagging injuries.

It was the injury bug that bit again and prevented the rematch from ever happening. About two weeks before the fight was set to take place, Cain again had to withdraw. This time it was a back injury that had struck him down. It seemed more than ever like Dave Meltzer’s thoughts were going to be true, that injuries would indeed prevent Cain from fulfilling his potential, even if he’d achieved an incredible amount already. The UFC booked a new opponent for Werdum – Stipe Miocic, a similar fighter to Velasquez in a lot of ways – and in what was almost a tantalising glimpse of what could’ve been for Cain in a rematch, Miocic knocked Werdum out to steal away the title.

Velasquez would finally make a return over a year after he’d lost the title. Rather than getting an immediate title shot he was instead matched with Travis Browne, once a top contender, now seemingly on a slide of his own, at UFC 200. The fight would open the main card.

And suddenly, it was 2010 all over again. The old Cain was back, moving around the cage comfortably, pushing a torrid pace, beating Browne up from the clinch and even busting out some new chops – namely a pair of crazy wheel kicks – that set up a crushing right hand that lead to another first round TKO. Browne never stood a chance.

It looked like it would only be a matter of time before Cain held the title again.