“He’s one of those guys who is very quiet but gets his point across in the cage.”
DeWayne Zinkin, president of Zinkin Entertainment, gushes when talking about UFC heavyweight Cain Velasquez, one of his clients.
Zinkin Entertainment’s roster is also heavyweight. The list includes Josh Koscheck, Mike “Quick” Swick, Forrest Griffin and Jon Fitch. There’s also former UFC light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. Zinkin, to be sure, knows topnotch talent, so when he tells you someone is special, it’s wise to listen.
And Cain Velasquez is special.
LOTS OF LOVE, LITTLE MONEY
Before the bright lights of the UFC, a young Cain Ramirez Velasquez came of age in Yuma, Arizona. Though there was a lack of money growing up, there was no lack of love, says the son of Efrain Sr. and Isabel.
“I think it was the perfect childhood,” says Velasquez, who trains at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California.
Efrain’s childhood took an abrupt turn to adulthood in the third grade, which is when he dropped out of school to work full-time. Isabel dropped out in the 10th grade. Although they did not complete school, they weren’t about to let their children follow in their footsteps.
“They definitely wanted better for me,” says Cain. “[Education] was always a priority.”
Which was OK with Cain. He had seen where life took his parents … and he didn’t love it.
“Working in 100-degree weather in a lettuce field … I thought of that, and it was something I didn’t want to do,” says Velasquez.
Instead, he rode his love of sports to Arizona State University on a wrestling scholarship and became the first in his family to earn a college degree.
THE INK, THE HERITAGE
Velasquez, to be sure, is proud of that degree, as he is of his heritage. So proud, in fact, that in 2002 he had the phrase “Brown Pride” tattooed across his chest. Some fans, however, didn’t take kindly to Velasquez’s ink … and they made their message clear on Internet message boards.
However, “Brown Pride” is everything Cain Velasquez was, is and will be.
“It’s just me,” he states. “I love going out with Mexican music, it means something to me. The way I fight, the way I train, that’s me. I’m proud to be Mexican.”
That pride began at a young age, which is also when he searched, unsuccessfully, for a Mexican role model.
“Growing up I didn’t have anybody to look up to,” he explains. “I couldn’t watch TV and see anybody who looked like me that was Mexican.”
At some point, every star athlete makes the leap from searching for role models to becoming the role model, which is what Velasquez has admirably done, and he doesn’t shy away from the idea that younger Mexican athletes may want to be like him someday.
“If people can look up to me that way and get some sense of pride of where they came from, then I’m glad to be that person,” he says.
THE SHARK TANK
And he makes a good role model… in or out of the cage.
Outside of the cage he speaks softly and maintains a low profile. He avoids boastful statements. He’s his harshest critic, opting for post-fight critiques over what he could’ve done better over post-fight bravado. Though the accolades continue to mount, he pays the compliments no mind, remaining focused on the goal of being the best fighter he can be.
“I never paid attention to what people say,” he says. “I just don’t look at that stuff. It all comes down to two things: I have to train and go out and win fights impressively. I can’t listen to what people say. I can only control what I do.”
Ditto for inside the cage.
Case in point is when American Kickboxing Academy trainer Javier Mendez threw the young Velasquez into the shark tank. In a bold move, Mendez told Yahoo! Sports that Velasquez was capable of taking out legendary fighter Randy Couture. In another interview, Mendez compared the then MMA-rookie to Muhammad Ali.
It was a tall order for someone who, prior to entering the sport, had little experience punching people in the face, but the brash statements were just a test — and Cain passed with flying colors. The boldness of Mendez’s statements provided a much-needed boost of confidence to Velasquez.
“[Mendez] told me he was going to say stuff he believed, but I knew I was going to have to do some work to get to that level,” Velasquez explains. “If he hadn’t said that, I’d have gone into those big fights feeling like I didn’t belong in this league. When he said that stuff early, it got me to believe I could beat those guys.”
Cain did more than beat “those guys;” he dominated them.
At UFC 99, he put on a dominant performance against feared striker Cheick Kongo en route to a unanimous-decision victory. That performance was followed by a mauling of Ben Rothwell at UFC 104. The Kongo and Rothwell wins were impressive, but “those guys” pale in comparison to the legend he faced at UFC 110. Staring across the cage was the living legend, Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira.
A heavy underdog going into the fight, Velasquez silenced the critics, knocking the former Pride and UFC heavyweight champion out in the first round.
Pre-fight jitters didn’t get to Velasquez before and they weren’t a factor in the bout with Nogueira.
“There was always respect from me to him and him to me, [but] we had to fight,” says Velasquez. “That’s pretty much it.”
The calculated, methodical approach Velasquez takes to fighting is one of the keys to his success. Other factors are his constant improvement and a relentless drive to get better every day.
“Everything,” he says in response to what he needs to work on. “I can get better at wrestler, boxing, jiu-jitsu; I’m not working on one thing. I’m always looking to improve on all aspects. Every day, every week I find something to get better at. I don’t think you’ve seen the best Cain Velasquez yet.”
This story was excerpted from the December issue of Ultimate MMA.
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