# New heavyweight monster



## Rauno (Nov 20, 2009)

I was going through Sherdog forums for the first time and found this..
Mijaín López, a four-time world champion and an olympic gold medalist is planning to make his MMA debut sometime in 2011. The man's a monster and his only 28.


----------



## Sevket (Aug 4, 2007)

Another HW wrestler ???


----------



## SM33 (Sep 22, 2009)

He looks like a big dark version of Hector Lombard.

His 2011 MMA debut will quickly turn into a 2011 MMA retirement if he's never set foot in a boxing gym, they can all learn from Lesnar. Then again, they probably won't get the fights Lesnar did.


----------



## joshua7789 (Apr 25, 2009)

When it comes to wrestling, this dude is in a different universe then Lesnar. The difference between great wrestlers in college and great wrestlers in international competitions is huge. Go watch some of Ben Askrens fights, that guys takedowns cant be stopped.


----------



## Rauno (Nov 20, 2009)

SM33 said:


> He looks like a big dark version of Hector Lombard.
> 
> His 2011 MMA debut will quickly turn into a 2011 MMA retirement if he's never set foot in a boxing gym, they can all learn from Lesnar. Then again, they probably won't get the fights Lesnar did.


I read that his done boxing before. An athlete of his level wouldn't step into the cage without knowing his ready.


----------



## mattandbenny (Aug 2, 2007)

The dude looks a beast, if he learns some boxing and jui jitsu defence he could be a big player in the heavyweight division.


----------



## Thunder1 (Aug 16, 2008)

He is a monster. 6'5" 265lb.


----------



## americanfighter (Sep 27, 2006)

wow if he learns so decent stand up and sub defense he will a huge force (no pun intended) in mma.

look forward to seeing him.


----------



## VolcomX311 (Aug 18, 2009)

Nice. I'll look him up :thumbsup:

Edit: Greco-Roman wrestler, hmm, interesting...


----------



## Killz (Oct 5, 2009)

more good heavyweights to pack out the HW division some more is always a good thing. just hope he's as tough as he looks and gets a good stand up coach.


----------



## G_Land (Aug 11, 2009)

Hmmmm I will be keeping my eye on his steps through the different orgs


----------



## Sevket (Aug 4, 2007)

Killstarz said:


> more good heavyweights to pack out the HW division some more is always a good thing. just hope he's as tough as he looks and gets a good stand up coach.


Well said


----------



## Uchaaa (Apr 22, 2007)

Iam waiting to the day when more strikers with the same credibilities will enter mma.


----------



## Thunder1 (Aug 16, 2008)

"Iam waiting to the day when more strikers with the same credibilities will enter mma."

I'm with ya. Not sure how that will happen though. In days of past boxing gyms everywhere were pumping out fighters. It seems these days the emphasis is almost entirely on ground fighting. 
At the school I train at (for hobby) most of the fighters are entirely focused on wrestling and BJJ. When it comes time for them to fight it's kinda like, oh yeah lets spar some to get ready for this fight. No real training on striking technique or head and foot work.


----------



## dutch sauce (Sep 24, 2006)

thats a big strong dude...


----------



## ESPADA9 (Oct 13, 2006)

Cuban? Boxing in Cuba is almost like football in Brazil.
He's been training with the Cuban National Boxing Team for the last 2 years and is going to start training at ATT in Florida.

Scary prospect.


----------



## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Yeah, this dude should do pretty good. The question though is whether he's going to go right into MMA or keep wrestling?


----------



## Sevket (Aug 4, 2007)

ESPADA9 said:


> Cuban? Boxing in Cuba is almost like football in Brazil.
> He's been training with the Cuban National Boxing Team for the last 2 years and is going to start training at ATT in Florida.
> 
> Scary prospect.


When I think about ATT two disasters come into my mind
1-Kimbo Slice
2-Mark Hunt

I hope he won't join the list above


----------



## ESPADA9 (Oct 13, 2006)

Sevket said:


> When I think about ATT two disasters come into my mind
> 1-Kimbo Slice
> 2-Mark Hunt
> 
> I hope he won't join the list above


Hunt hasn't been relevant in years, Kimbo never was (outside of the media hype machine).

Thiago Alves, Thiago Silva, Jeff Monson, Tyron Woodley and Hector Lombard are pretty legit.


----------



## Sevket (Aug 4, 2007)

ESPADA9 said:


> Hunt hasn't been relevant in years, Kimbo never was (outside of the media hype machine).
> 
> Thiago Alves, Thiago Silva, Jeff Monson, Tyron Woodley and Hector Lombard are pretty legit.


Add Mike Brown to the list


----------



## Fine Wine (Aug 30, 2010)

joshua7789 said:


> When it comes to wrestling, this dude is in a different universe then Lesnar. The difference between great wrestlers in college and great wrestlers in international competitions is huge. Go watch some of Ben Askrens fights, that guys takedowns cant be stopped.


Weren't both Sonnen and Henderson Olympic wrestlers? Still probably not on this guys level though.......?


----------



## Fine Wine (Aug 30, 2010)

kantowrestler said:


> Yeah, this dude should do pretty good. The question though is whether he's going to go right into MMA or keep wrestling?


Yeh, that's the prob with a lot of grapplers also, they have a couple MMA fights, but never undertake a career in it.


----------



## UFC_OWNS (Jul 7, 2010)

he has 4 golds at the world titles and 1 silver in 2006 at 120kg, which is about 265 pounds, olympic gold medallist!! at beijing and he is cuban and will train with Lombard and Alves, i think this guy already will at least be a top contender lets just hope he's in the ufc before strikeforce tries to ruin him.


----------



## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

I thought UFC rejects and guys who like their freedom go to Strikeforce. Was I wrong?


----------



## Sevket (Aug 4, 2007)

kantowrestler said:


> I thought UFC rejects and guys who like their freedom go to Strikeforce. Was I wrong?


There is "no freedom" in UFC that's for sure


----------



## MMA-Daz (Oct 28, 2010)

Did Velasquez not prove that its not all about wrestling though? 

He personifies the term "its not thi size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog"


----------



## UFC_OWNS (Jul 7, 2010)

MMA-Daz said:


> Did Velasquez not prove that its not all about wrestling though?
> 
> He personifies the term "its not thi size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog"


welcome to the forum

as said earlier college wrestling is light years behind international wrestling the size is just a bonus, also he will be working with lombard,alves and america top team who are notorious for knockouts and excellent striking


----------



## Sevket (Aug 4, 2007)

MMA-Daz said:


> Did Velasquez not prove that its not all about wrestling though?
> 
> He personifies the term "its not thi size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog"


Cain is a bit different as he is not wrestler and boxer like most Heavyweights. He is a wrestler and kickboxer. I think that makes the difference


----------



## MMA-Daz (Oct 28, 2010)

Cain Velasquez has proven to everyone that technique beats raw power 9 times out of 10. Even Brock Lesnar proved that to some degree when he beat Shane Carwin.


----------



## limba (Jul 21, 2009)

Scary looking dude, and, ulike other big men, he has some nice credentials: world champion, olympic champion, training boxing in Cuba, where boxing is like a national sport... then going to ATT. 
Two things need to happen for him:
- start a rigurous conditioning training, adapted to MMA
- STRIKING, STRIKING, STRIKING...ne needs to learn how to box, and more important, like Lesnar demonstrated us...he needs to learn how to take a punch and how to react when getting hit.

If he succeds is this, he should do very well imo.


----------



## UFC_OWNS (Jul 7, 2010)

limba said:


> Scary looking dude, and, ulike other big men, he has some nice credentials: world champion, olympic champion, training boxing in Cuba, where boxing is like a national sport... then going to ATT.
> Two things need to happen for him:
> - start a rigurous conditioning training, adapted to MMA
> - STRIKING, STRIKING, STRIKING...ne needs to learn how to box, and more important, like Lesnar demonstrated us...he needs to learn how to take a punch and how to react when getting hit.
> ...


heres the difference between him and lesnar, cuban lad is a college champ, hes a world champ and gold medallist.
lesnar is at camp meathead where the strikers suck(bar the newly arrived pat barry), cuban lad is at ATT where they are renowned for vicious strikers (alves,Lombard the modern day beasts)


----------



## limba (Jul 21, 2009)

UFC_OWNS said:


> heres the difference between him and lesnar, cuban lad is a college champ, hes a world champ and gold medallist.
> lesnar is at camp meathead where the strikers suck(bar the newly arrived pat barry), cuban lad is at ATT where they are renowned for vicious strikers (alves,Lombard the modern day beasts)


No doubt.
I have said it on multiple occasions: Lesnar's striking is SH**T!! I like Lesnar, but he needs to start training BOXING ...hardcore. He needs to learn how to react when getting hit. Primetime showed some footage of him striking...coaches talking of his power. But power isn't everything.

From what i've read, Lopez already has some background in boxing. And i think he will learn MMA striking the right way. ATT is a good place to learn.


----------



## SilverJJ (Sep 7, 2011)

Have you guys seen this man in action? He's awesome. 
http://www.olympic.org/wrestling-greco-roman-96-120kg-men
Not sure how he'd performe in MMA though.


----------



## kantowrestler (Jun 6, 2009)

Well most wrestlers don't usuall join wrestling. It is becoming more common but MMA is very different from wrestling. One example is that Egyptian from 04 that did horrible in his first match.


----------

