As I've had more and more time to absorb the events of UFC 121 more than anything else I am stuck on wondering what happened to the patient Brock Lesnar against Cain Velasquez. Where was the man that had developed from a furious monster shooting out of the corner at the opening bell in an undisciplined flurry into a methodical professional fighter who waited for opportunities to land strikes and takedowns? Why did he seem to devolve as a fighter?
UFC 121 Recap: What Was Brock Lesnar Thinking v. Cain Velasquez?
In his first few fights Lesnar was every bit the bull let loose from the gate, firing out and looking to overwhelm men like Frank Mir with sheer strength and force. But in the rematch with Mir, the fight with Randy Couture and even the Shane Carwin fight (which did not go his way early) he looked much more like a man who was absorbing techniques and understanding what the fight game was at the highest level.
There seem to be only a few legitimate possibilities in what went on:
1) Training failure - It is possible that Brock’s camp felt that Velasquez did not hit hard enough to negate Lesnar’s early, furious style and thought it was better to try to overwhelm him early than go into deep waters with a man who worked as relentlessly as Cain. If that was the case they still needed to have Brock use technique in what he did. Rather than sloppily firing out of the corner they still could have tried to use Cain’s aggressive style against him and counter off the punches to get a takedown.
2) Lesnar choked - It could just be a case where the atmosphere proved too much for Lesnar. Yes, he has plenty of experience under the bright lights of the WWE and in previous UFC fights. But there was still a different aura to this event and it’s possible that he got so amped up by what was going on that he abandoned everything he knew and reverted to “beast mode.” This was just not the right time for that style. It also is possible that he knew Cain was better than him technically and could only hope that, as mentioned above, he could abandon technique and hope to drown Cain in a sea of violent energy.
3) Brock isn’t a great fighter - The final option is that Brock Lesnar might simply not be a great fighter. Maybe his fury was an attempt to avoid getting hit after realizing how badly he handled it after the Shane Carwin fight. Brock reacted very poorly for the second straight fight when he was hit and while he survived an undisciplined assault from Carwin he was not going to be able to do the same against a solid tactician like Cain. Maybe what we saw last night was simply the real Brock Lesnar. He can beat someone with poor technique, he can beat those who don’t deal well with pressure, but he can’t hang against men who can present him with technique and finesse while not being afraid of his size and strength.
What we saw last night may have been the end of Brock Lesnar as a top heavyweight, or it may have been a turning point where Lesnar learns to truly value strategy and technique above relying on his freakish gifts. Once he heals up and (presumably) steps back in against Frank Mir for their rubber match I assume we will learn a lot about where Lesnar’s future lies.
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