I think the first round of Cain/Werdum showed it could go the other way, Cain landed plenty on Werdum and on another night I think potentially could put him away BUT I think that fight really exposed Cain's striking defence and his dependance on the clinch to rest. Unlike JDS Werdum had a strong jab to punish him and unlike JDS he had a significant threat on his back that Cain didnt want to face, every time Cain tried to clinch Werdum could lock up the thai plum because he wasnt afraid of being taken down and Cain had to disengage and keep throwing down. Thats IMHO the big the reason he gassed here and not vs JDS IMHO, he didnt have his breaks clinching against the cage between throwing flurries of offence and was eating jabs to the face.
Bisping though I think does clearly expose that "company men" have a massive benefit when it comes to only havign the rematches they want to happen. Izzy recently vs Alex was the same IMHO which is why I pleased to see him lose to Strickland.
It is curious that I saw the opposite way.
Cain lost his biggest weapons which was constant pressure, Takedown and Ground'n'Pound.
Cain was afraid of following Werdum to the ground, so Werdum baited him repeatedly, but Cain remained standing.
That gave confidence to Werdum, and he started to beat the shit out of Cain. when Cain finally gave up his strategy (of not going to the ground), and reverted back to his instincts and he finally followed Werdum to the ground, and Werdum easily caught him with the choke. By the time they hit the ground, Werdum was already smiling.
I do concede about Cain arriving just days before the fight. But then again, it's not like Werdum hid the fact he would go so early to get acclimated to the high Altitude.
Cain is a professional. They made an informed decision. I mean, it's common knowledge that fighting at altitude air is more Rarefied. They should have known that and trained accordingly.
This is on them, so it should not be used as a valid excuse.But regardless of Gas tank, I just don't see how Cain could beat Werdum.
And it's not because I dislike Cain, but Werdum had the exact attributes to counter Cain.
With his 2nd degree BB in BJJ, Cain was right to fear the ground game of the man who just beat Fedor.
But add his Black belt in Judo and combine with Muay Thai (in which he is also a Black belt)... I don't think anyone could drop Werdum if he ever chose to stand... but the man loves the ground... with reason. I contend that he was beating Overeem, if he didn't fall to the ground every time AO raised his hand... That looked so stupid!!! He begging Overeem to go to the ground... IMHO he lost because of the appearance that AO was dropping him.
So it wasn't the altitude. That didn't help. But Cain lost because Werdum had all the answers.