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Now is not the time to get carried away with Velasquez

Cain Velasquez still has questions to answer © Getty Images

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Every-so-often, a moment comes along in sport that inspires every viewer in attendance to think the same thing in unison. It's the kind of moment that saw a 16-year-old Wayne Rooney grip an entire football nation when he curled a 25-yard beauty past David Seaman, or when a blond-streaked Kevin Pietersen slammed 108 off 96 balls in the hostile atmosphere of South Africa.

"Have England found a new superstar?" pondered football supporters as Match of the Day relived Rooney's breakthrough moment. "Could Kevin Pietersen become the world class batsman England have been craving?" crossed the minds of cricket fans as South Africa turned their backs, quite literally, on their former son.

Cain Velasquez had one of those moments at UFC 110. Picking the perfect situation to unleash a thunderous right hand that finished the legendary Antonio Nogueira, Velasquez sent out a message to his heavyweight rivals in an outstanding two-minute destruction at the Acer Arena. "Is Velasquez the man to end Brock Lesnar's reign as heavyweight champion?" thought MMA fans in one unified voice.

In fact, many fans have been asking that question about Velasquez for some time now. Ever since he tortured Cheick Kongo for three rounds at UFC 99 in Germany, the American Kickboxing Academy fighter has been recognised as one of the most relentless wrestlers on the planet. Victory over Ben Rothwell in his next fight revealed little more than we knew already, Velasquez is an undefeated heavyweight beast.

However, as impressive as the Kongo victory was for Velasquez, Compustrike claims he threw 165 strikes in round three alone, it nevertheless highlighted massive holes in Velasquez's stand-up. Kongo tagged and rocked the Californian at the start of all three rounds, prompting Velasquez into impressive responses each time as he dominated Kongo on the mat.

Seven months on, Velasquez's striking looked far better against Nogueira. Utilising leg kicks and footwork to keep his opponent off balance, Velasquez controlled all 140 seconds of the contest before he dropped the Brazilian to claim victory.

An impressive win, the biggest of Velasquez's career, but it should come with a footnote that this was an ageing Nogueira he was fighting, a man who has never boasted devastating stand-up in his entire career. Few stop Nogueira, only Frank Mir had previously done so, but likewise only two of the Black House fighter's 32 victories have come via knockout or TKO.

Nogueira's hands did get the better of Randy Couture in his previous outing, but the 46-year-old Couture is way past his best in that department and is certainly no indicator of a stand-up dangerman. Nogueira hit and got hit against Couture, so the fact that Velasquez beat him to the punch in Australia should not be the reason to get carried away with talk of an imminent title triumph - particularly against the reach and power that Lesnar possesses.

Velasquez has all the makings of a future champion, no doubt, but while he has proved his wrestling game rivals the best in the world, he is yet to provide similar evidence that he can mix it with top class striking exponents when, as will happen with Lesnar, grappling is taken out of the equation.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.