Yahoo Sports UFC 200 Results: Cain Velasquez is Back; Takes Out Travis Browne in First Round
Cain Velasquez may have proved that he is finally back with a superb victory over Travis Browne at UFC 200: Tate vs. Nunes on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Velasquez and Browne each came into this fight with something to prove. Velasquez, while having twice earned the UFC heavyweight championship, has yet to prove that he can stay healthy. He had fought just twice in the three years leading up to this bout. Browne, having bounced between wins and losses, needed to start stringing together some wins.
Unfortunately for Browne, he stood little chance against a Velasquez that was firing on all cylinders.
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From the opening bell, Velasquez wasted no time establishing his jab and attacking Browne’s lead leg with low kicks.
Giving up a five-inch height advantage and two-inch reach advantage, Velasquez’s strategy was simple, use his jab and low kicks to close the distance and put pressure on Browne, which he did well.
Having kept him on the back foot, Velasquez rocked Browne with a punch midway through the opening round, following with a flurry of punches to the body. Browne survived, but then Velasquez attacked again, landing another power punch that put Browne on the canvas.
The former champion followed him down and battered him with a mix of punches to the face and elbows to the head. Browne briefly regained his feet, but Velasquez put him back to the mat, dishing out more right hands to the face.
Browne again escaped to his feet. Velasquez initially had him up against the fence, but then separated and uncorked a left hand that rocked him. Velasquez moved in with a punch combination and a knee to the face, drug Browne back to the ground and dropped a few more hard shots before the referee stepped in to stop the fight with three seconds remaining in the round.
Having last fought more than a year ago, when he lost his belt to Fabricio Werdum, Velasquez knows he's got to stay healthy to get back into the championship mix, but at least he’s moving in the right direction.
“Feels good to get back in front of everyone and get a win,” he said after the fight.
“I’m always looking for perfection. I felt my timing was off a little bit, but that’s something that’s gonna be coming with more fights.”
Considering his sporadic schedule over the past few years due to various injuries, Velasquez surely wants to get back in the Octagon as soon as possible. He definitely doesn’t want any easy fights.
“I want to fight the best guys. Whoever the UFC wants, I’ll do it, but I want to fight the best.”
