At UFC 104, Cain Velasquez and Ben Rothwell will be facing off in what promises to be an exciting matchup. Velasquez is coming off of the biggest win of his career against Cheick Kongo while Ben Rothwell will make his UFC debut. Both fighters are considered to be among the top handful of fighters in the UFC in the heavyweight division. Shogun Rua vs Lyoto Machida is taking up most of the spotlight, but this is definitely one fight that you do not want to forget about.
Cain Velasquez
Cain Velasquez has won his first four fights in the UFC. He is 27 years old and has a wrestling background as he wrestled for Arizona State University where he was a two-time All-American. In his last UFC fight, Velasquez defeated Cheick Kongo by unanimous decision. Velasquez dominated this fight from start to finish except for one short period. At one point in the fight, Kongo hit Velasquez square in the face and it appeared to make his knees buckle. It appeared that Kongo would finish the fight at this moment, but Velasquez quickly recovered and continued his dominance. His victory was very impressive to say the least. He showed that he could be a very dominant fighter and that he could take a punch with the best of them.
Ben Rothwell
Ben Rothwell comes into this fight looking to make a statement in his UFC debut. Rothwell has been a very dominant fighter, winning 14 of his last 15 fights, most of which were in the IFL. Rothwell has said that nothing to this point has mattered, because none of it was in the UFC. He is out to prove himself to the UFC as well as it's giant fanbase. Rothwell is 28 years old and has more knockouts in his career than Velasquez has fights.
Velasquez vs. Rothwell
Both fighters respect each other as a fighter, but they also both expect to dominate the fight and come out on top. Ben Rothwell said that he has not been impressed with Velasquez's previous fights and that Velasquez will have never have been hit as hard as he will hit him. There hasn't been many people in the UFC who have taken a shot like Velasquez took against Kongo and not been knocked out cold. One thing is for sure; Velasquez can take a punch. This fight appears on paper to make a very hard hitting, exciting fight. Rothwell should have a slight advantage if the fighters stay on their feet, while Velasquez has a slight advantage if the fight were to go to the mat. Only one of these men will stand with their arm raised on Saturday night and whoever it is will position himself perfectly for a title fight opportunity.
