Cain Velasquez vs. Cheick Kongo
Cain Velasquez defeats Cheick Kongo This was a frustrating match to watch. As a fan of Cheick Kongo, I really thought he could win this fight. It was obvious that he was a better striker than Cain Velasquez because he damaged him at the beginning of each round. However after weathering the initial flurry Cain would always get the takedown. From there, we were due for four and a half minutes of ground and pound. Kongo still has serious problems with his takedown defense. He’s going to have to improve it because there’s other big wrestlers (Shane Carwin, Brock Lesnar) in his division besides Cain. Kongo is also very ineffective with his guard. He needs to go to a Gracie (or another BJJ expert) and go through the belt system from the ground up. That way, he can be sure to learn all the fundamentals. It’s funny that Velasquez is receiving criticism from this fight. After all, he won the fight quite convincingly. However people are saying that he should have finished Kongo. They’re also pointing out how lax he is about defending strikes when looking for a takedown. Well, if you can absorb punishment in order to get where you want to be, then who cares if you’re a bit bruised at the end of the fight? Mind you, when he faces another great wrestler, he’s going to need a different strategy all together. Next Fight: Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva
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