No one questions the place in the rankings the two men in tonight’s main event at UFC 166 in Houston have earned. Losing only to each other in the UFC (JDS only one to have dropped a loss prior), they have both taken UFC gold from the other, and lost it by the same man as well.
While honing their skills against each other, they’ve also been teaching each other about areas of weakness in their respective games, that no other heavyweight has come close to finding.
Point in fact, Cain has the most knockouts in heavyweight history, while JDS must be close behind, and has scored one against the same record holder himself. They have tested each other, did their homework, and now must take the final test.
Who passes? The one that adjusts accordingly to the mistakes he made in his loss. Watching JDS and Cain talk about their past loss/win against the other, it’s interesting if you really think about it. Until tonight happens, we won’t really know who learned their lesson.
But we can speculate of course. Both men discussed their trilogy match UFC 166 Saturday night in an exclusive interview with Inside MMA’s Ron Kruck.
“I’m expecting a tougher fight in this fight,” said Cain. “I’m expecting a Junior that is more improved and he’s going to fight a Cain that is more improved.”
“I have to do everything different this time because Cain did an excellent job in that fight, but now, I think I’m smarter and have more experience,” said JDS.…. “I want to go out there and prove that I am number one, the baddest guy on the planet. And man, he was there in the first fight and I knocked him out very fast. He should take care because it can happen again.”
After two fights against each other, then traveling around the world together on the UFC’s biggest media tour to date, they still have nothing but respect for their opponent, and a healthy awareness of their limitations.
When people talk about these two possibly fighting for a fourth or fifth time, I believe it will require JDS to pull out the win tonight. But even if he drops down to 2-1 against Cain, who’s going to step past him in the rankings?
Not Daniel Cormier. Well not as long as he refuses to fight his Cain and is planning on dropping down to make a run in the light heavyweight division. Although on a side note, I think it’s the best move for DC and I would love to see him fight Jon Jones regardless.
But since the #2 contender among the heavyweights will be leaving soon, who does that leave? At this point Travis Browne will probably step in line next. Yet just like the first two matchs between Cain and JDS, they will very likely TKO their next opponents and wind up being the only viable options for a heavyweight championship match, regardless of the outcome tonight.
JDS has got to be hungry after suffering a 25 minute beat down by Cain. He doesn’t have the belt, and he definitely proved he is an infallible force at this moment in his career since in his last fight with Mark Hunt at UFC 160 in May, where he clearly had won by the end of the third round, but still moved in to put away The Samoan Assassin in the final minutes of the fight, regardless of the logical decision he could’ve made to play it safe at that point. That’s a statement.
“During the fight they are saying so much crap,” says JDS in the UFC primetime special while watching his second fight to Rogan and Jon Anik as they rave about Cain’s ability to shut him down. “In the first fight [they say] I didn’t fight the real Cain Velasquez, no I fought the real Cain Velasquez. The thing was after one minute, he was on the ground taking punches in the face. I don’t think Cain Velasquez is able to do what he did last time. He got the belt right now but I really think I am the number one. I believe I’m the better fighter, cause I finish fights, and I’m gonna finish him again.”
Recently at the presser surrounding the UFC 166 weigh-ins last night, JDS said his problem in the last fight was over training on his part. Whether that’s true or not, he’s coming in to this one with a chip on his shoulder. If I had to guess, his mind is going to explode with rage every time Cain shoots for a take down.
“This is the fight that I want. Cain Velasquez hit me for five rounds and couldn’t knock me out. He hits like a girl. I’m coming for this fight to win and I’m going to prove this on October 19th,” said JDS.
Cain also made a statement that night when he staunchly stuffed Antonio Silva again with his patented ground and pound. That doesn’t mean he has forgotten what it’s like to get knocked out by JDS and lose his belt, all in the span of about one minute.
“The first JDS fight I didn’t do the game plan,” said Cain Velasquez. “I waited around too long on the outside. I remember going down and I was like, ‘man I can you know recover from here.’ But you have to be ready right away. You don’t get a second chance out there you know. I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, and that was it. It sucked losing the belt you know. Not being champion anymore. I just took the positive from it. Ok next time I can’t wait around.”
When both men squared off at the weigh-ins last night, it felt fairly uneventful. Cain curtly nodded at JDS, of whom returned the gesture with a similar lack of animation, and that was that.
The seriousness of this moment in their careers can’t be quantified, and therefore requires no sensationalism or bravado on their part. Both men know what’s at stake, and so do true fight fans of the sport.