• UFC 121

Velasquez 'surprised' by Lesnar's tactics at UFC 121

New UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez admits he was 'surprised' by Brock Lesnar's hurricane-like start during their UFC 121 showdown in Anaheim, California.

Lesnar took a couple of steps to his right before charging at Velasquez from the opening klaxon, failing with an immediate takedown attempt before reverting to a bunch of knees to the body. The former champion also let his hands fly as he attempted to bully Velasquez early in the fight.

Velasquez, who later stopped the bout via TKO, weathered the early storm and even popped up from a takedown to eventually dominate Lesnar in all aspects of the fight. And he admitted to ESPN's MMA Live show that his tense start could have cost him.

"From watching the Countdown show, I knew Brock was going to come out aggressive," said Velasquez. "I knew he would come out aggressive, but I didn't know he would come out that aggressive. So he surprised me a little bit.

"At the beginning I wasn't as relaxed as I should have been. He hit me with a good right hand, I wasn't completely relaxed so it wasn't the perfect fight for me. That's something I'll learn from and constantly get better.

"We knew from the Shane Carwin fight that he was uncomfortable with his stand-up, but he has really strong wrestling and he's a strong guy. So the plan was the keep a distance, but also stay aggressive. And if we're getting taken down, we're getting right back up, and I had the perfect training partners to do that."

In the end, Lesnar was sent sprawling across the cage in windmill-like fashion as he attempted to gain his balance, but Velasquez revealed he had not rocked the outgoing champion at that stage of the fight.

"I don't think he was hurt, he was just trying to get his balance. I didn't want to get super aggressive on him, so I just stayed smart and followed him to see where he would stand up."

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