UFC 121 Matchups: Lesnar vs. Velasquez Odds & Picks
By Drew Sharper
The main event of Saturday’s UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez is a UFC Heavyweight Championship Bout between champion Brock Lesnar and contender Cain Velasquez.
The champion Lesnar enters the fight as the favorite with a betting line of -145 with Velasquez given a line of +115 according to online sports book BroburySports.com. Here is a closer look at both fighters heading into this bout, which will take place from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California at 10PM ET on Pay Per-View.
Brock Lesnar (5-1):
Strengths: Lesnar is a freak of human being as he walks around at about 280 pounds yet he moves like he weighs 100 pounds less. Lesnar has great athleticism and works with a wrestling base. Still young in MMA, Lesnar continues to improve with his submission fighting and his hands are big and he has the strength to knock anyone out with one punch.
Weaknesses: Lesnar showed in his last fight against Shane Carwin at UFC 116 that he can be beaten with strikes as Carwin nailed him with some big shots that forced Lesnar to cover and survive. Velasquez is the faster and better technical striker in this fight, so Lesnar will have to show improved striking defense if he wants to keep the fight standing.
Cain Velasquez (8-0):
Strengths: Velasquez is a big, strong, and relentless fighter. He has won seven of his eight career fights by TKO thanks to his tremendous wrestling background and quick hands. Velasquez has improved a lot with his boxing over the past few years. He scored a KO win over Antonio Nogueira in his last fight and has never been in any compromising position in his UFC career.
Weaknesses: Velasquez walks around at 245 pounds, which could be an issue in this fight as he may struggle with the mass of Lesnar. The key for Velasquez to win this fight will be his ability to keep the fight standing and stuffing Lesnar’s takedown attempts. Due to giving up about 40 pounds, Velasquez may struggle with this aspect. If he does, he probable is not going to come out on the winning end.
Who will win: Lesnar showed he is very beatable in his last fight and Velasquez has the style to beat him. Velasquez won’t gas out like Carwin did and he should have the strength to match wrestling with Velasquez. At some point, Velasquez will land the big strike that sends Lesnar reeling, but Velasquez will finish the job and score the upset to win the heavyweight title.
Additional Line: Over/Under 7 minutes for the fight: Over (-125) Under (-115)