Speaking of Cain Velasquez, his performance can be interpreted a number of ways. His kickboxing was not good, he was tagged in almost every exchange, and he didn’t have the ability to finish an opponent that was just waiting to be finished. On the other hand, his wrestling control was very good, his conditioning was great, he had quite a chin, and he beat a top 10 (or so) heavyweight in only his sixth fight. I think Mirko would be an interesting fight just because Mirko has better takedown defense than Kongo, and certainly has the standing skill to put him away.
A few months ago, Shane Carwin crushed Gonzaga with a single right hand after a bad start. Cain’s performance was almost the exact opposite; he dominated for 15 minutes but didn’t have the power to finish. Cain almost reminds me of a more well-rounded version of the early Randy Couture, content to overwhelm guys and beat them into exhaustion. He needs serious striking improvement though, and I don’t know if AKA is equipped to give it to him.
Mike Swick looked decent, but was overhyped by the announcers as usual. He is nowhere near GSP’s class as a fighter, and does not deserve a title shot. I think they should match him up with Martin Kampmann in September.
Finally, the main event. What an odd fight it was. Both men looked cautious, and Franklin looked like he was on his way to an easy decision victory until he got caught in the second. Wanderlei really had a chance to put him away there, but missed the opportunity. Neither man looked particularly great, but they both had to deal with an opponent with such a unique style.
Wanderlei made a tactical mistake starting out cautious. He was most successful when he came forward aggressively, Rich did not punish him enough for coming in recklessly. He lost the fight, but I think Wanderlei will live to fight another day. The fans loved the fight, he obviously loves what he’s doing, and if he can stay that competitive with a fighter as good as Rich Franklin, who are we as fans to tell him he needs to retire? I do think that perhaps he should stay at 205, as it looked like the weight cut just slowed him down.