Cain Velasquez proved he was one of MMA’s best-ever heavyweights at UFC 146 in May 2012.
Six months prior, his first reign as UFC champion was brutally ended by Junior dos Santos.
‘Cigano’ shocked the world and embarrassed Cain Velasquez by knocking him out in just 64 seconds.
An immediate rematch made no sense, so the 9-1 American welcomed Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva to the UFC instead.
Cain Velasquez brutalized ‘Bigfoot’
A loss like the one Velasquez suffered against Dos Santos usually takes years to live down, but the heavyweight legend managed to do it by beating the breaks off ‘Bigfoot’ in a three-minute demolition job.
The UFC 146 co-main event started with Silva making a grave mistake that he was unable to recover from.
A sloppy leg kick allowed Velasquez to easily take his opponent down to the floor. Once there, the 42-year-old MMA icon immediately began firing away with rapid ground and pound.
Silva, who owns a BJJ black belt, was able to slow down his opponent until he connected with a clean elbow that cut him wide open. After that, Velasquez hammered away until ‘Bigfoot’ was surrounded by a pool of blood.
There was a brief break in the beating as the cageside checked the gash. Unfortunately for Silva, the fight continued and he was mercilessly battered until he could take no more.
Referee Josh Rosenthal finally waved off the contest when a blood-soaked Silva turtled up as his 240lb rivals dropped bombs on him.
In the UFC 146 headliner, Dos Santos defended his belt against Frank Mir to set up a rematch with Velasquez.
Famously, Velasquez put on a clinic to win back his belt before stopping Dos Santos in the fifth round of their third and final fight in 2013.
Cain Velasquez joins GFL
Velasquez retired from MMA after suffering a 26-second knockout loss against Francis Ngannou in 2019.
However, he has recently excited fans by announcing his return to the sport by signing with Global Fight League, which is a new MMA promotion that has snapped up a bunch of former UFC stars, including Dos Santos.
Sadly, Velasquez won’t be fighting in the GFL as he’s set to take on a management role alongside American Kickboxing Academy’s Javier Mendez, who has been appointed as the head coach of his team.
Paige VanZant’s deal with GFL is perhaps the biggest they’ve pulled off so far. ’12 Gauge’ hasn’t fought under MMA rules since leaving the UFC in 2020, but she felt compelled to do so after being presented with a contract too good to turn down.
“They offered me a contract and I said, ‘Yes’,” VanZant said on her podcast. “So, I’m going back to MMA, and I think this is the perfect opportunity because I definitely didn’t leave MMA because I wasn’t passionate about it anymore.
“Now there’s this new MMA organization that actually made me really excited to fight for them. They are legit paying their athletes. Everyone that I’ve heard that has negotiated their contracts so far is extremely excited and happy.
“They’re doing a pension fund for the fighters, and I think health insurance… You just never know when it’s over, so I wanna do everything I can to make the most money while I can, and be able to provide for my family forever.”