It may seem absurd to suggest that a guy coming off knee surgery, and with only four professional fights, is all but a lock to be competing for the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title before the end of the year.
But then, Brock Lesnar, the UFC champion, is a guy who won the title in his fourth professional fight, so it’s hardly out of the question that Cain Velasquez could have the belt around his waist before 2010 dawns.
“No doubt about it,” UFC president Dana White says assuredly of the likelihood of Velasquez fighting for the title sometime this year.
Velasquez is only 26 and has been a professional for a bit more than two years, but he’s already learned there are no guarantees in this business. And so while so many around him are giddy about his prospects, and White discusses a title shot as if it’s a fait accompli, Velasquez is simply concerned with finding a way to defeat Denis Stojnic when they meet at Ultimate Fight Night Saturday at the Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla., in a bout televised on Spike TV.
Velasquez is an overwhelming favorite to win, but he wants no part of that kind of talk. He’s prepared for Stojnic, he says, as if it were the most important fight of his life.
That’s a good move on his part, because it is. While Stojnic may be no Lesnar, a young and inexperienced fighter can’t afford a slipup and still land a title shot. With as many qualified candidates who are out there, even a prospect as highly touted as Velasquez must continue to win impressively to remain in the mix.
And so Velasquez has trained feverishly to prepare for Stojnic, a kickboxer with a 5-1 record who will be making his UFC debut.
“There are no sure things in this sport,” Velasquez said. “Denis is a super aggressive guy. He’s really strong and he likes to come forward. It’s a tough fight.”
A two-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State, Velasquez hasn’t been in anything remotely resembling a tough fight since he turned pro. He’s ended each of his four fights in the first round, with only one going past the halfway mark of the round.
He’s like the rookie outfielder that a team is so optimistic about that it puts him in the middle of the lineup and expects him to be one of the key players from Day One. Velasquez’s approach is more like he’s battling for the 25th spot on the roster.
“What other people say, I filter out,” Velasquez said. “I never listen to the hype. I have a long way to go. I need to get better in every area. Of course, you would rather people think highly of you than not, but in the end, that doesn’t really matter. What matters is how I perform and how much I learn.”
White is almost giddy about his new crop of heavyweights. In the last year, he’s added Lesnar, Velasquez, Shane Carwin and Junior dos Santos to a group that includes Randy Couture, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Frank Mir and Gabriel Gonzaga.
The promoter unabashedly says it’s the best group of heavyweights the company has had since he and partners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta bought it eight years ago.
“I’ve never been happier with our heavyweights in the history of the company,” White said. “We have a lot of great fighters and we have guys like Cain who are getting better every day.
“He’s one of the guys we think is going to be great and I definitely see him and Brock fighting at some point. That’s one of those fights that we haven’t even made and when you think about it, you can’t wait to see it.”
Velasquez lost a lot of momentum when he tore the meniscus in his left knee after his win over Jake O’Brien in July and required surgery. He said he doesn’t expect problems from his knee and insists he’ll be able to compete full out with no mental reservations.
“It feels like ages since I’ve had to worry about my knee,” he said.
If the knee holds up and he gets past Stojnic on Saturday, much bigger things are ahead. And he understands that because they have similar backgrounds, there are going to be plenty of comparisons between Lesnar and himself.
He’s not about to make one, though.
“It would be an honor to fight a guy like that, but I have a lot I need to do before I really even think about it more than a minute,” he said. “I’m trying to improve in every area. It’s not like I’m a finished product, by any means. I have a lot of questions to answer. I hope I have a good chin, but I haven’t been hit in a fight and I don’t know for sure. So I have a lot to do.
“The bottom line is, I can’t allow that kind of stuff to distract me or to get in the way of me doing what I have to do. When that time comes, if it comes, great. All I’m concerned about right now is the fight I have in front of me. I’ll let myself worry about that other stuff at the appropriate time.”
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