Much of the coverage of Cain Velasquez beating Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 Saturday night mentioned Velasquez having been a two-time All-American for Arizona State... and that former champ Lesnar was a 2000 NCAA heavyweight champ for the University of Minnesota.
So...playing up the mat backgrounds of UFC giants like Velasquez and Lesnar has to be great for amateur wrestling, right?
Far too many kids don't see the connection between wrestling and the UFC. It's a topic that divides the amateur wrestling community. I contributed a chapter on the wrestling/MMA connection for wrestling journalist Matt Krumrie's book The Ultimate Guide to Wrestling Camps, a book written to help wrestlers and their parents make smart decisions about choosing a wrestling camp. When asked if MMA could serve as a means to get young people into wrestling, Goudy replied, "This generation is tuned into MMA. Want to stay on top of the latest news in college wrestling? If so, subscribe to College Wrestling Examiner! The two have placed a bet on this weekend's heavyweight title between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez, the only fight in recent memory to warrant this kind of action. Zak 'Hobo Dancer' Woods is aligning his hopes and dreams with Cain Velasquez, while 'Cousins of Ron Mexico' CRM has decided to hitch his wagon to Brock Lesnar.
Nearly 15,000 Ultimate Fighting Championship fans showed up Saturday night to the Honda Center hoping to celebrate a historic victory. Cain Velasquez did not disappoint.
Touted as a can’t-miss prospect almost from the first day he entered the sport of mixed martial arts, Velasquez fulfilled those high expectations at UFC 121. In front of a sold-out crowd of 14,856, many of whom were proudly waving Mexican flags, Velasquez became the first Latino fighter to win a heavyweight title in either boxing or MMA, pounding defending champion Brock Lesnar into the mat before referee Herb Dean stopped the contest at 4:12 of the opening round.
The normally-brash Lesnar (5-2) was humble in defeat.
Velasquez knocked Lesnar so loopy with one attack, it actually spun him 360 degrees. Velasquez pounced on a fallen Lesnar, who survived the first onslaught on the mat but couldn’t keep Velasquez at bay much longer. UFC president Dana White was gushing in his praise for Velasquez and the reaction he received as the new champion.
“The guy gets better every time he fights.”
In other pay-per-view matches at UFC 121:
“We didn’t give him an easy fighting coming into the UFC,” said White.
“Kampmann’s a tough guy. Shields was given scores of 30-27 and 29-28, while one judge scored it 29-28 for Kampmann.
— Matt Hamill (11-2) won the biggest match of his career, using the ground-and-pound once trademarked by Tito Ortiz (16-8-1) against the former champion on his way to a unanimous decision in the light heavyweight contest.
“I’m just happy to win this fight,” said an emotional Hamill. “I’m getting better with every fight.”
Two judges scored the match 29-28 while the third had it 30-27.
In preliminary matches at UFC 121:
All three judges scored the match 30-27.
— Daniel Roberts (11-1) used an anaconda choke just 1:15 into his welterweight match versus Mike Guymon (13-4-1), earning the submission win.
— Chris Camozzi (14-3) earned a hard-fought split decision over Dongi Yang (9-1) in a middleweight contest. All three judges scored the match 29-28, with two siding with Camozzi.
“This win was huge,” said Madsen.
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