Picture this: It’s some calendar year B.C. You and your friends cram into a wooden amphitheater surrounding a dirt field. It’s midday and the sun is high, but there’s a cool breeze carrying a waft of sweat and iron through the crowd. Just as you find vacant seats, the audience erupts in cheers as two figures emerge onto the dirt field wearing polished armor and brandishing swords and tridents. A brutal battle ensues. Blood is spilled. The loser dies, the winner goes home a hero and the crowd relishes in the spectacle.
Fast-forward a couple thousand years. The amphitheaters are larger, the weapons are simplified, but the crowds are as bloodthirsty as ever. Welcome to professional prize fighting.This is the life Arizona State University alum Cain Velasquez chose to lead after graduating in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in education. As a Sun Devil, Velasquez was a two-time All-American wrestler, two-time Pac 10 champion and 2005 Pac 10 Wrestler of the Year. Now as a professional, Velasquez has become one of the fastest rising mixed martial artists in the Ultimate Fighting Championship stable.
In just a few short weeks Velasquez will be putting his unblemished record on the line when he makes his first bid for the heavyweight championship of the world. While some people join the ranks of professional fighting for money, fame and glory, there’s also the element of pride, something Velasquez has an intimate knowledge of; it’s tattooed across his chest. In bold, black old-English script, the words “Brown Pride” are emblazoned on his tan complexion.
It is an ode to his Mexican heritage.
Nationalistic pride is an important element in prize fighting. Mexican boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez carried the weight of a nation when he fought as a lightweight and welterweight, similar to the way current boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao does for the Filipino people. Seeing that there has never been a professional heavyweight champion of Mexican descent in either boxing or MMA, hopes are riding high that 28-year-old Velasquez will be the first. Whether he admits it or not, the expectations are gargantuan.
“There’s no added pressure,” Velasquez says of completing the feat. “When it comes down to it, my job is simple — train and win impressively. I do feel great to be in this position though, it’s one of the reasons I want this belt.”
Now with arguably the biggest fight of his career looming, Velasquez sounds confident and focused as he describes his preparations. “Training camp is going good. It feels like forever and my body is broken down, but that’s normal. I’m pushing through it,” he says.
Velasquez is going to have to be in top form if he wants to stand any chance in dethroning reigning champion Brock Lesnar. Since exploding on the scene in 2007, the former WWE superstar has proven he is more than just a showman. In a division where size most definitely matters, the 6-foot-3, 265-pound Lesnar holds a substantial size advantage over Velasquez who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 240 pounds.
“I’ve been training by wrestling quick, big, powerful guys,” Velasquez says. “He’s definitely stronger than me for sure, but I’m used to training with guys a lot bigger than me anyways.”
Both fighters are coming off of their biggest wins yet with Velasquez blasting through the normally durable Antonio Nogueira in just one round and Lesnar overcoming the first round onslaught of Shane Carwin. Although victorious, the Carwin fight showed a weakness in the champion’s game that Velasquez is hoping to capitalize on. Lesnar was rocked several times by clean punches before submitting Carwin in the second round.
Velasquez says his quickness and standup game are going to be the difference in this fight. “That’s where he’s vulnerable. We saw it in the Carwin fight,” he says. “We’re watching film and learning what he does well, but I’m not going to just wrestle with him. It’s going to be stand-up, ground, everything. I’m preparing for all possible positions.”
Lesnar is an accomplished wrestler himself having been a NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion back in 2000. The collegiate pedigrees of these two fighters is just one of the reasons this is being billed as one of the biggest fights in the UFC’s brief history.
Crediting his time competing at the collegiate level with providing the wrestling foundation that has gotten him this far, Velasquez is happy to represent ASU. “Arizona is my hometown,” he says. Velasquez has been known to throw up his pitchforks after fights.
Like all sports, prize fighting has evolved over time. The first major landmark occurred in 1867, when the Marquess of Queensberry rules were written, influencing what would become modern boxing. Then again in 1993 with the induction of UFC 1, a no-holds barred event that differed drastically from boxing. In this new kind of hand-to-hand combat there were no weight limits, and everything except eye gouging, biting and attacking the groin was permissible. Fighting took place in an eight-sided fenced cage that further added to the violent nature of the sport. In 2010, much has changed. Weight classes have been formed and more restrictions have been put in place to tone down the brutality of those first events, but the Octagon has come to be the new forum where different disciplines are put to the test.
Professional prizefighters are modern-day gladiators. As before, blood will be spilled, crowds will roar and the smell of sweat and iron will fill the air. It will be beautiful. It will be brutal.
“I expect a five-round fight, a five-round war,” Velasquez says. “That’s what I’m expecting.”
UFC 121 takes place on Oct. 23, at 7 p.m.
Contact the reporter at jose.sandoval@asu.edu.
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