Five Reasons To Be Pumped For Brock Lesnar Vs Cain Velasquez

By Trent Reinsmith (Correspondent) on October 4, 2010
on bleacherreport.com

The main event at UFC 21, Lesnar vs Velasquez is a fight that fans started looking forward to as soon as Lesnar slapped the choke on Shane Carwin back at UFC 116. To say that this is one of the most eagerly anticipated fights in UFC history, well, that's just a bit of an understatement.

Why should you be looking forward to this fight? I can give you five reasons.

The battle these two waged at UFC 116 was a fight for the ages. As Carwin rained blow after blow down on Lesnar it looked as if the UFC heavyweight division would have a new champion before the end of the first round.  Somehow the champ was able to weather the storm and when he came out to start the second round and saw the gassed Carwin across the Octagon you could sense there was trouble brewing for Carwin. Sure enough, Lesnar submitted Carwin in the second and proved he was the champ on more than brute strength alone.

Can Lesnar vs. Velasquez top this one?  I have no idea, but if they do, the fight could rank in the top ten in UFC history.

With each UFC fight Lesnar has shown improvement. What type of improvement will we see from Brock in when he steps into the Octagon with Cain. Will he improve his striking? Will his defense improve from the Carwin fight? Will he continue to show the growth as a person he showed at the end of the Carwin fight?

As I say above, Lesnar has shown progress in every fight and everyone should be looking forward to what comes next in that progress. Lesnar may not be the best all around heavyweight fighter in UFC right now, but if he keeps showing growth with every fight he could quickly become the best all around heavyweight.

Cain will be Brock's biggest challenge to date.

They are both fast in the Octagon.

They both possess strong wrestling backgrounds.

Cain is better at the striking game, but if Brock can take a punch(or a series of punches) from Shane Carwin you know he has a strong chin.

Brock is known for his intense training, but he does not have the quality fighters around him that Cain does. Cain trains at American Kickboxing Academy and shares the facility with the likes of Jon Fitch, Cung Le, and Josh Koscheck. There is a lot of talent around him in that gym and that can only help Velasquez in his preparation.

The winner of this fight will head right into another tough battle as either Brock or Cain will have to take on the Brazilian to defend the title. The 12-1 dos Santos brings a longer pedigree into the Octagon than either Lesnar or Velasquez. dos Santos has defeated some top names in MMA during his career including Fabricio Werdum, Cro Cop, and Gabriel Gonzaga. Whoever wins the fight at UFC 121 will need to get right back to training for dos Santos. The winner in all of this...fans of the UFC who will get to see some amazing heavyweight battles in the near future.

Let's face it, with his background Brock Lesnar is the biggest name the UFC has ever had on its roster. Now that it seems as if he has been humbled by his brush with death and seems like a much more mature person, this is the perfect fight for the UFC to expand their fan base.

UFC president Dana White is already playing to the Latino fan base with press releases stating how there has never been a Mexican champion before. When you add to that the huge crossover potential of Lesnar, you have the potential for the biggest PPV card in the history of the organization.

If Lesnar wins, many of those fans will stay with UFC to see how he fares in his next fight. If Lesnar loses many fans will stay to see how the man that beat him performs in his next fight.

This fight is marketing gold for Dana White and the UFC and with that in mind White has every reason to make sure that this fight and future fight cards hang on to the new fans this battle will generate.