Cain Velasquez was a dominant Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight titleholder for three years.
Unfortunately, he was only able to defend his belt twice during that span, as one injury after another forced the 265-pound cardio machine to ride the pine for an extended period of time. As Frank Mir sees it, while the time off was unfortunate, Cain is still as dominant as they come.
But now that Fabricio Werdum is the new sheriff in the land of the big men, Mir tells Fight Hub that the 265-pound division is wide open for new and intriguing match ups.
"I think it shakes up the division. Any time you have a very dominant champion, whoever is at the top of the food chain. Cain Velasquez has been a very dominant champion. On top of that, his fights have been dominant, but he's been there a long time because of injuries. He kind of held on to the belt, but not a lot of fights. Whereas, for example, you see Jose Aldo fought and defended his title in October, he's unable to defend it here in July and there's already an interim belt. They didn't give it very long to sit there and wait, they're already creating another belt. They've given Velasquez a lot more time. But, when he has stepped inside the Octagon, the guy has dominated everybody except for his last fight. But, he also sat there for awhile. So, it does shake up the division and it adds new blood."
In fairness, UFC did eventually create an interim heavyweight title, which Werdum claimed by defeating Mark Hunt at UFC 180 back on Nov. 15, 2014.
And UFC's reason for creating an interim featherweight title so quickly after Jose Aldo bowed out of UFC 189 was due to the fact that the Brazilian champion has made it a habit to pull out of championship fights.
Mir, meanwhile, looks to make it two straight wins when he faces off against Todd Duffee later tonight (Weds., July 15, 2015) in the main event of UFC Fight Night 71 in San Diego, California.
For more on that fight card click here.
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