This is part of The Shadow League’s Hispanic Heritage Month In Focus series celebrating Latino excellence in sports and culture.
Today, it is easy to look past the accomplishments of Cain Velasquez in MMA while his teammate, Daniel Cormier basks in being the second of two fighters in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously.
However, before injuries that have had him on the sidelines for over two years, Velasquez was the biggest and baddest man on the planet that wore his love for Mexican people literally on his chest with the most gangsta tattoo in the sports business: “BROWN PRIDE”.
Cain Velasquez trains at the WWE Performance Center
Two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez works out alongside NXT Superstars at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla. Get your first month of WWE Network for FREE: http://wwenetwork.com Subscribe to WWE on YouTube: http://bit.ly/1i64OdT Visit WWE.com: http://goo.gl/akf0J4 Must-See WWE videos on YouTube: https://goo.gl/QmhBof
If you have ever been to a Canelo Alvarez or Golden Boy Promotions boxing fight then you have witnessed the sea of red, white and green, the emotive strength that a mariachi band can provide and felt the intensity of what a win means for the Mexican people.
Cain Velasquez brought that feelingby the pound into a world unencumbered by the desire to satiate the entire fanbase’s palette when it comes to MMA.
Velasquez was raised in Yuma, Arizona where he compiled a record of 11010 in four years of wrestling, including winning the 5A Arizona Wrestling Championship twice. Velasquez also played football as a linebacker for three years and as a senior, he served as captain of both his wrestling and football teams.
After high school, he attended a JuCo school, Iowa Central Community College, wrestling for one season (200102) and winning the NJCAA National Championship in the heavyweight (285 lb limit) division. Afterward, Velasquez transferred to Arizona State University where he wrestled for the Sun Devils for three seasons and compiled a record of 8617, placing 5th in the country in 2005, and 4th in 2006. While at ASU, Velasquez also wrestled alongside future UFC fighters Ryan Bader and C.B. Dollaway fortuitously, since all three would become bankable stars in the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization.
Velasquez debuted as a professional mixed martial artist in the now defunct but premium Strikeforce organization, an unheard of feat for a debutant. He KO’s his opponent in the first round. By his third fight he was already in the UFC and recorded his first three wins by KO and by his ninth professional bout he was facing WWE megastar turned UFC heavyweight juggernaut, Brock Lesnar. The result was a first round KO by Velasquez at UFC 121 in Anaheim, California to become the UFC heavyweight champion of the world.
Cain velasquez Highlights// “THE CAIN EFFECT”
To the UFC fans i present you the one and only Cain Velasquez. =================================================== This HL video was made for entertainment purpose only and for Non-Commercial Use.. i do not own any part of the video..{ALL CREDITS FOR THE VIDEO FOOTAGE GOES TO THE ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP[UFC] , ZUFFA & respective owners} MUSIC CREDIT : Jace D.
Since Velasquez has racked up a coterie of accomplishments that underlie his ambition to put Mexico on the map for MMA. He became the UFC heavyweight champion twice with two successful title defenses. He achieved a Knockout of the Night bonus three times (versus Denis Stojni, Antnio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Brock Lesnar).
- If that wasn’t enough, Velasquez has the second most UFC titles won in heavyweight history (4, tied with Stipe Miocic), most knockouts in the history of the heavyweight division with 10, the highest significant strike percentage in the heavyweight division with 57.62%, and the most takedowns in UFC heavyweight history with 34.
- Although injuries have kept Velasquez on the sidelines for over two years after his win over Travis Browne at UFC 200, rest assured th heavyweight champion you see in Daniel Cormier was assisted by Velasquez and undoubtedly Cormier will retire after his possible fight against Brock Lesnar to allow his teammate to once again return and dominate the division.
If Big Pun helped Latinos go platinum in hip-hop then rest assured, Velasquez, put numbers on the board for pay-per-view and KO’s in the cage for the spirit of “La Raza”.
