Cain Velasquez
BIO/CAREER
Cain Velasquez is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler born in California, but reared in Arizona. He began his sports career with both wrestling and football in public school. As a wrestler in high school, Cain would amass a 110-10 record during four years of competition. On the football team, he played the linebacker position, where he also served as captain.
It would be this foundation of physicality and work ethic that would prove to be so integral to Cain Velasquez's later success on the highest MMA stages.
Immediately after high school, Cain Velasquez would attend Iowa Central Community College where he would win the NJCAA National Championship in the heavyweight division. From there, he would continue his wrestling career for the next three years at Arizona State University, where he would meet fellow eventual UFC veterans CB Dolloway and Ryan Bader. At Arizona State he would build a 86-17 record over 3 seasons and place 5th in the US in 2005 and 4th in 2006.
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Cain Velasquez would begin his mixed martial arts career after finishing up his time at Arizona State. He would join American Kickboxing Academy and begin training under head coach Dave Camarillo.
In October of 2006, Cain Velasquez would make his debut on the Strikeforce stage defeating his first opponent by TKO in the first round. He would go on to win his second fight in the BodogFight organization, again in the first round via TKO.
From there, it was on the UFC for Cain Velasquez who made his debut at UFC 83 against Brad Morris, who he defeated in the first round via TKO. His next UFC fight would have him defeating Jake O'Brien at UFC Fight Night 14, once again via TKO in round one.
At UFC Fight Night 17, Cain Velasquez would find himself going deeper into the fight with Denis Stojnic and finishing him via TKO in the second round. This performance would earn him Knockout of the Night.
Cain Velasquez would quickly move up in level of opponent, facing Cheick Kongo and newcomer Ben Rothwell in his next two fights. He would defeat both opponents. This would set up his next fight against the legendary Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Many predicted that Nogueira's striking power greatly outmatched Cain Velasquez, but they were proven wrong as Velasquez would defeat Nogueira in the first round via TKO and earn himself his second Knockout of the Night honor.
With the win over Nogueira, Cain Velasquez earned himself a title shot against then UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. It would be at UFC 121 that Cain Velasquez would defeat Brock Lesnar via first round TKO, earning his heavyweight UFC title and another Knockout of the Night bonus in the process.
Develop the skills to help you swarm the opponents.
Cain Velasquez would go on to have wars with the likes of Antonio Silva and most famously Junior Dos Santos, who would briefly take the heavyweight title from Cain Velasquez. Despite the cast of the heavyweight division seemingly always plagued by injuries, Cain would return to fight Dos Santos and win back his title for the second time in dramatic and dominating fashion becoming the first fighter to post triple digit strikes and double digit take down numbers in one fight.
In 2019, Cain Velasquez would transition to the WWE to pursue a career in Professional Wrestling. Due to the recent Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on the WWE's live events, this has been put on hold.
Cain Velasquez has widely been considered one of the most complete mixed martial artists in history. With his swarming style and seemingly endless cardio gas tank, Cain Velasquez would dominate his opponents on the feet or take it to the ground, rarely using his submission expertise, but instead winning via strikes or pure domination.
HIGHLIGHTS
Technique from Cain Velasquez
In this excerpt from Fundamentals of Power Punching, Cain Velasquez goes into detail explaining proper jabbing distance. Known for his punching prowess and many Knock Out of the Night honors during his UFC career, this information is going to bring your jabbing up a level for sure.
Jabbing Distance
Following Up In Good Position
In this excerpt from Foundations of Power Punching, Cain Velasquez addresses maintaining good positioning in between strikes and stresses proper eye contact during points of contact.
FUNDAMENTALS OF POWER PUNCHING
Enjoy this trailer from the Fundamentals of Power Punching.
Cain Velasquez has brought the dynamic striking power that made him a two-time heavyweight UFC champion to the Dynamic Striking family. Begin to build your own Velasquez-style swarming game by learning directly from the best. You can get your copy of Fundamentals of Power Punching here or at the Buy Now link below!
