Kane Velasquez is a popular former UFC heavyweight champion. His popularity soared during his reign, as he was often the subject of memes. It has been five years since Kane’s last fight and now only has one fight under his belt in these past three years. What will happen with Mr. Velasquez in light of this lackluster fight remains to be seen.
A favourite for his former glory
Despite spending almost three years sidelined with injury, Velasquez was able to overcome Francis Ngannou in December. Despite the opponent coming out victorious against previous contenders Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis, there is no denying Ngannon’s knockout power. If viewers are able to accept his last two losses as anomalies rather than stagnation of skill, this match-up would be a huge upset for them!
Velasquez could have beaten Nganna in parterre or on the counter late in the first round, as he wasn’t known for having a long-lasting cardio. Unfortunately, Kane had to stand for his entire second half of the fight because of one essential quality that Ngannou possessed: explosiveness. Unless other than being thrown out, the Cameroonian was extremely dangerous.
When you haven’t fought for two and a half years, you need to have an average fight before going up against someone of the elite. However, Velasquez was thrown straight at Nganga. Clearly Kane himself was confident and wanted that fight, but practice shows it’s very difficult to come back triumphant like that. Especially at the age of 36.
The fight
Not much to say about the fight, it did not last more than half a minute. Velasquez stepped into the octagon as if he hadn’t had 30 months downtime, and his opponent was not one of the most horrible knockouts. That’s why Kane is considered by many to be one of the best in history–he has never been afraid of anyone during his career. In the first seconds of this recent bout against Alexander Volkov, Velasquez tried swinging low kicks alternating with high kicks on defense.
After only 20 seconds, Velasquez attempted to make a touchdown but was unsuccessful. He passed the ball to himself, but failed to land on it. Nganna then struck Velasquez with his left fist in the head and pushed him off seemingly awkwardly. With AKene now in pain and unable to defend himself, Nganna delivered several more knockout punches before the referee intervened and stopped the fight.
It was all too quick, mate. We just started fighting and here I am already winning. I’ve been waiting for this fight for two years, I wanted to challenge someone like Velasquez. I want to test myself with the best and I’m honoured to be here.
Summary of the fight
Velasquez, the defeated candidate, paid tribute to his opponent and encouraged everyone for the future: “I was super ready to fight but that’s why our sport is so great you never know how things will turn out.”
What do you think Kane will do with his career? Though he’s only stated he wants to continue fighting, if is confident in the training he does regularly and believes that all of the preparation is good enough, then he won’t retire.
It may be mid-career, but 36 is definitely not the right age for heavyweight boxers. 17 fights in 13 years sounds very little considering how rarely he has fought and how few fights he’s had. The important thing is that his health will allow him to train again if needed, from what it seems Velasquez should be able to go back on top providing they don’t put a tank on him as soon as he wakes up.
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