This is what they were raving about. Fellow fighters and gym rats have marveled for the last year or so about this kid at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose. Cain Velasquez, a former wrestler at Arizona State, has made the transition to MMA quickly. Cheick Kongo represented the best test to date for Velasquez. The Mexican-American tossed the imposing looking Kongo around the cage for 15 minutes, with Kongo on the ground for 13 of the 15. Dare we say it, the dominance was very similar to what Brock Lesnar did in his second UFC fight to Heath Herring at UFC 87. Velasquez won via unanimous decision but once again ring announcer Bruce Buffer elected to pass on giving the score. This one could've easily been 30-26 or 30-25 for Velasquez.

There were a few scary moments at the start of the fight and the beginning of the second round. While they were standing, Velasquez threw wildly trying to set up his initial takedown. He got blasted and rocked by three shots 15 seconds into the fight. He showed a chin and gumption, collecting his wits quickly, falling forward to get the takedown. The beginning of the second round was identical but Velasquez got it to the mat with 4:27 left in the round.

Velasquez (6-0, 4-0 UFC) used a Nick Diaz-like approach by peppering Kongo with hundreds of elbows and punches on the ground. He came close to finishing things in the first with a rear-naked choke. He also mounted Kongo five times. The Frenchman is one tough dude and will probably have his ears ringing for days.

Velasquez, 26, has been extremely hard on himself in spite of the fact that he's only had six pro MMA fights. He was disappointed again that he couldn't finish Kongo:

"It wasn't good enough for me or my coaches," said Velasquez. "I need to get a lot better."

UFC color analyst Joe Rogan called it a dominant performance but questioned the finishing abilities and punching power of Velasquez. He's still a work in progress but his wrestling skills, control and power, make him an instant contender in the UFC's heavyweight division. It also gets one thinking about the potential of Velasquez banging heads and grappling with behemoths like Lesnar and Shane Carwin. Could Velasquez manhandle those guys?

Join Cofield, Adam Hill from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Ariel Helwani from Versus.com for another edition of the Yahoo!/ESPNRadio1100 postfight show tonight from 9-11 p.m. ET. We'll have several of the winners from UFC 99 live from Germany. You can listen here. Calls are welcome at 702-364-1100 or texts at 63532.