UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez

By Joshua Molina

Cain Velasquez will defend his UFC heavyweight championship on May 25 against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, in a fight that illustrates the lack of depth in the heavyweight division.

Velasquez destroyed Silva in their first fight about a year ago. The fight was not competitive. Velasquez crushed Silva with a vicious ground-and-pound attack, spilling and spraying Silva’s blood all over the cage.

But because Silva lucked out in two straight fights, and the fact that there’s no one else formidable in the heavyweight division, Silva will get a rematch with Velasquez in less than three weeks.

Silva will always have a puncher’s chance, but that chance will be neutralized once Velasquez, an NCAA Division I All-American wrestler, takes him to the ground.

The UFC is going to have to beef up its heavyweight division and do it quickly. There’s not a lot of exciting matches on the horizon. The winner of the Junior Dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt fight will get a title shot. JDS, you could argue, deserves a shot, since he beat Velasquez the first time. Hunt, even with an upset victory, doesn’t deserve a title shot.

Who else is there?

If the UFC wants to make its heavyweight division exciting again, they should consider booking the following fights:

1. Velasquez vs. Daniel Cormier. Yes, we know they are friends and that they train together and that they both have said they will not fight each other. Too bad. These two need to slug it out in the cage, in what would be an epic challenge, full of mutual respect, and mutal desire to win. Let these guys fight, and enjoy the moment of friends being the two best heavyweights in the world competing on the biggest martial arts stage.

2. Velasquez vs. Jon Jones. Jon Jones thinks it’s all up to him? He thinks he is that good? Well instead of the 6 foot, 4 inch pound Jones fighting smaller guys in the light heavyweight division, let’s see him fight someone his own size. Jones should not be fighting at light heavweight. He’s too big. He’s a heavyweight. Let’s see him choke out Velasquez. And more importantly, let’s see if he can handle heavyweight power. Evander Holyfield moved from light heavyweight to heavyweight in boxing — and he was smaller than Jones. Let’s see it Jones.

3. Velasquez vs. Roy Nelson. This is probably a mismatch, but it would be one great war first. Nelson can knock anyone out. He’s not afraid to fight. He’s entertaining to watch. He would probably knock Bigfoot out in a couple of minutes.
This would be a fight that would do tremendous Pay Per View numbers.

4. Velasquez vs. Josh Barnett. It doesn’t look like Barnett and the UFC will come to terms again, but Barnett deserves to be a UFC heavyweight. His ground game is great, he’s a heavy hitter, and he’s a fighter. Barnett certainly is not boring. Barnett could singled-handedly sell the fight. He would be the fan favorite. That’s a fight that fans want to see and Velasquez would have his hands full against the icon.

UFC needs to do something to spice up its heavyweight division. When Bigfoot Silva is you’re No. 1 contender, after beating out a guy who blew out his knee during a fight, and then getting lucky with a punch after losing most of another fight, your heavyweight division has big problems.