The Cain Velasquez Insurance Policy Conundrum
by Zak Woods on Feb 22, 2010 11:15 AM EST
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Cain Velasquez's impressive knockout victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira placed the young heavyweight prospect in the proverbial clubhouse, waiting for the result of the Shane Carwin Frank Mir interim title fight this March to determine his immediate future.
Dana White had previously indicated that the winner of UFC 110's main event would essentially act as an insurance policy for the UFC. If the winner of Mir vs. Carwin is too hurt to fight in Lesnar's rumored July return, or is hurt in training, Velasquez would step in. Due to Cain's spectacular knockout and overall superb development it is difficult to imagine that anyone would object to Velasquez fighting for the title. Yet if all goes according to plan the UFC will still have an interesting dilemma. Do they schedule Cain for another fight at the end of the summer or do they patiently sit on their top prospect?
Both avenues have merits and faults. By waiting the UFC sacrifices capitalizing on Velasquez rising stock and marketability. We don't yet know what kind of a pay-per view draw Cain is and one more victory may solidify his status as a great heavyweight who the casual fans and mainstream media will flock to. On the flip side scheduling him to fight a beatable opponent carries the risk of Cain losing (something that has yet to happen in Velasquez's young career). The UFC can mitigate this risk by having him fight a contender say Junior dos Santos if he defeats Gabriel Gonzaga but then they risk losing a future contender in order to serve the short term. Another fight would also serves the purpose of allowing further development and as we have seen with Cain, he can make serious leaps in ability from fight to fight.
WKR wants to know what you think is the best course of action.
SBN coverage of UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez
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that card would be huge if they did that.
I guess we will have to wait until jds and gonzaga fight, and mir and carwin, to see if the come out ok.
i guess it is a good prblem to have if ur the ufc,
so many contentders now, u have to love it.
if i were cain id sit it out and wait. i wouldn’t want any part of dos santos and his stand up. especially after kongo nearly put him to sleep.
with that said, cain’s stand up is much improved. he did have a near shot and slow nog in there with him but technique wise much much better.
i think its best for the ufc to do the same. that way they will have 3 legit contenders to fight for the title the next year. mir/carwin, dos santos and cain.
"Newspapermen ask dumb questions. They look up at the sun and ask if it is shining."
-Sonny Liston
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I think from both a businesss/development perspective you wish there was like a legit #7 HW he could fight. But I can’t think of anyone
watchkalibrun.com
doesn’t look like it will happen but if he wanted a fight, i think a cro cop is a safe fight now. he can build a rep by beating pride legends. or if big country gets by struve (i like struve in the fight0, they can have can beat up on him.
outside the top 4 or 5 there really isn’t much at all in the heavys.
"Newspapermen ask dumb questions. They look up at the sun and ask if it is shining."
-Sonny Liston
.
by sonofapsycho on Feb 22, 2010 5:19 PM EST up reply actions
Cain is actually in the perfect position right now, if the Mir/Carwin winner is too hurt to fight Lesnar he gets the shot if they don’t. Then he gets the winner of JDS and Gonzaga in a number 1 contender fight either way Cain has already cemented himself as a top contender and with so few fights the more experience and battle tested he becomes the better it will be for the rest of his career.
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