There seems in this sport to be a great desire to overstate a fighter's stand up competence based only on the result of his fights and not what actually takes place in them. Cain Velasquez is consistently touted as a great striker with a complete striking skill set - in fact a great deal was made of this ahead of his first meeting with Dos Santos. In truth Junior Dos Santos is someone who understands striking and sets up hard offensive salvos and counters with pot shots and feints early in a match. Cain Velasquez is someone who follows instructions very well and throws his strikes in exactly the ways he has been told to throw them, without really thinking about building to an end game. It is the difference between playing chess by weighing up all the likely responses of the opponent to each threat presented by the player, and playing with a set series of moves regardless of the opponents actions.
Unlike their digital counterparts in the popular video game UFC Undisputed real fighters do not have offensive striking and defensive striking attributes because offense and defense are not two separate disciplines. In fact it is on offense that a fighter must keep sound defensive form most of all to avoid running on to a counter with his hands down and his chin out like this unfortunate soul. Cain Velasquez is one of a large group of fighters who are consistently touted as great strikers but make basic technical mistakes, often causing them to run on to punches.
The two greatest myths around Cain Velasquez are that he has a weak chin and that he is pillow fisted. His record and knockdowns serve to disprove the second, but I will disprove the first by demonstrating just how often Cain gets hit while he's moving in.
