Brock Lesnar Is Out to Get His Heavyweight Title Back from Cain Velasquez
It's been a little over five months since we last saw Brock Lesnar in the Octagon. As we all know, his last bout didn't exactly go all that well, as he had to hand over his Heavyweight championship belt to Cain Velasquez after being knocked out in the first round.
After months of radio silence following his defeat, Lesnar is about to be front and center in the public eye once again. He is scheduled to take on Junior dos Santos in June, and Lesnar will bridge the gap between now and then by coaching opposite dos Santos on the 13th season of "The Ultimate Fighter." The series will debut Wednesday night on Spike TV, and will conclude on June 4th, one week before Lesnar and dos Santos square off for the right to challenge Velasquez for the Heavyweight title on June 11th.
For those who watched Lesnar's bout with Velasquez, it was obvious that he had some serious holes in his fighting style. First and foremost, he was totally outmatched on his feet, which ultimately spelled disaster against a skilled striker like Velasquez.
Lesnar told ESPN.com that he has since gone back and analyzed what went wrong against Velasquez.
"Going back and looking at the fight, it was toe-to-toe," he said. "We were toe-to-toe in all aspects of the stand-up. When I stood back up in the transition was when I got caught with a left uppercut and wasn't able to recover."
Lesnar said that reviewing the fight has definitely had a positive effect, and he hinted that he knows what not to do now.
"After watching the fight," he said, "I came out of my evaluation with confidence. I just have to step in there and execute."
Though not quite on Velasquez's level, Junior dos Santos is also a dangerous striker, but Lesnar issued his opponent a warning about one area that he could improve in.
"He'd better get good with his double-leg takedown defense," said Lesnar. "There hasn't been a heavyweight that I've faced who I haven't been able to take down."
In a recent conference call, dos Santos didn't offer any suggestions of his own for Lesnar. He just said that he got to know him through "The Ultimate Fighter," and that he thinks Lesnar is "a pretty nice guy."
However, he also said, "But on June 11, none of that really matters. My goal is to go in there and beat Brock."
Between the two of them, Lesnar is probably the fighter who is going into the bout with more to prove. Despite the fact he defended his Heavyweight championship twice after taking it from randy Couture in 2008, it has always been apparent that there aren't many people out there who admire his fighting style. Instead of a fighter, most folks see a brawler who gets by solely because of his bulk. This appeared to be true when he had no answer for Velasquez's stand-up game, and it's doubtful that Lesnar would ever get another shot at his old title if he were to lose to dos Santos.
Nevertheless, Lesnar is definitely confident about his chances against dos Santos. "I can take this fight wherever I want to take it," he said. "And that's half the battle right there."
We will find out on June 11th.
For more MMA coverage, check out our list of The 10 Most Physically Imposing Fighters in UFC History.
Brittny Gastineau Brody Dalle Brooke Burke Brooke Burns Busy Philipps
No comments:
Post a Comment