Lots happened at UFC 200: A title changed hands and an interim one was minted, a pro wrestler smashed a kickboxing world champion in a wonderful Pride-like piece of matchmaking, the best fighter of all time made more fans in a loss than he ever did during his 16 straight wins some years back, and the ex-baddest man on the planet reminded everyone that he still might be the baddest man on the planet.
Meet the new Cain Velasquez, same as the old Cain Velasquez.
In the opening bout on pay-per-view, the 33-year-old American Kickboxing Academy product strode to the Octagon intent on doing harm to whatever poor sap had been locked in there with him. Travis Browne was that unlucky person, and the harm came to him swiftly and enthusiastically.
It was a foregone conclusion that Velasquez would walk out of UFC 200 a winner by the end of the first exchange; it was only destined to go on so long as Browne’s considerable willpower would hold him up. Velasquez, looking rejuvenated in a way he hadn’t since his 2012 title reclamation over Junior dos Santos, sent him to the canvas with the newly minted offense of a wheel kick after making him reel with takedowns and combinations.
As it turned out, Browne had precisely four minutes, 57 seconds of willpower on reserve, and his night ended when he was splayed face down on the canvas, eating the nastiest ground-and-pound in the business from Velasquez.
The former champion reminded the MMA world just how good he is when he’s on. Not long ago he was often called Cardio Cain for his freakish work rate and inability to get tired, an unheard-of trait for a heavyweight. After an embarrassing loss to Fabricio Werdum at UFC 188 in June 2015, where he was left wheezing and broken in the high altitude of Mexico City, Cardio Cain was mockingly overtaken by Sea Level Cain, and Velasquez slipped from the limelight.
The peaks and valleys of high-level athletics are often more pronounced in MMA, where athletes work without a net and are only as good as their last performance. For Velasquez, those peaks have come in the form of two world-title runs and a number of performances that were outright scary for their carnage and efficiency. The valleys have come through injuries, seemingly dozens of them, and poor performances at times when no one saw them coming.
He’s lost only twice in his career, to Dos Santos and Werdum, but the losses were so jarring that it feels like he’s dropped at least four or five bouts in his decade in the sport.
The contrast is maybe even starker because his UFC wins have been totally non-competitive, with Velasquez simply annihilating whichever victim the promotion found to fight him. You’d have to think such cannon fodder doesn’t own a television or internet access to be silly enough to take a fight with him; they couldn’t think they had a hope if they knew who Velasquez was or had seen what he’d done to others.
And now that nightmare fuel for UFC heavies is back. Saying that he’s figured out how to maintain his body and avoid injuries, Velasquez wants a title shot next.
And he deserves it.
All battered brow and Brown Pride, Cain Velasquez reminded everyone at UFC 200 just what type of work he’s capable of. It’s relentless and brutal, and no one in the sport will withstand it if he comes correct with it on fight night.
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