Sweet Cain Velasquez interview!
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 le before the end of the year.
But then, Brock Lesnar, the UFC champion, is a guy who won the le 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 le 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 le 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 e 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 le 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 Fer ta 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.”
Cain is an absolute monster. Dana is grooming him. If Brock didn't beat Heath Herring I imagined Cain would of been fighting Randy. As it is this guy is a total package. He's not raw like Brock has great speed and agility for his size. Awesome stand up ground n pound he's amazing. He tucked a guy's hand under his leg had one knee on the other arm and was raining down blows of mass destruction to this guys head really fun fighter to watch.
Again, and again, and again...
In case you missed it, the mixed martial artist formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver gave us all a quick reminder that he still exists at the end of January when he posted this message to his MySpace blog denouncing President Barack Obama as "a rich white guy with a dark tan" (among other choice pronouns) and expressing his hope that "someone smokes that f*cker and every president to come."
Apparently the folks at Bellator Fighting Championships didn't think much of the former TUF cast member's political views, as they released War Machine this week, months ahead of the promotion's scheduled April 4th debut on ESPN Deportes.
Jon Koppenhaver...that guy is an enigma.
Via MMAPayout
Update on PPV numbers. For UFC 91 (Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture), the show is at this point verified as doing 920,000 buys. It will probably end up just under or possibly just over one million when all late buys are tabulated. UFC 92 (triple main) is at 1 million. We don’t have a number for UFC 93 based on actual numbers, but trending data indicates about 320,000 buys, a shockingly high number, as it would have beat out the live UFC 90 from Chicago and been nearly 100,000 more buys than any prior U.K. show.
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DAMN!
dustin hazlett's next fight anyone?
well f*ck
HAHA...btw
-Warmachine is a poet
Feb 5, 2009 3:54 PM
ESPN and ass mother in' Disney!!
Seems War Machine is being censored once again. I can't speak my mind at all without all the got higher-ups in the industry getting their panties in a wad. Just how my Evan Tanner bulletin got me kicked out of the UFC it seems I have been kicked off the Bellator show before it has even begun. Seems they don't like it when their fighters speak their mind on the politics of the USA and it's pussy ass presidents.
Guess I should just erase my MySpace and/or just keep MY opinions to MYSELF? So much for living in a "free" country right? So much for the "freedom of speach" right? I guess you're only allowed those things if you are a natural born citizen of the US.....or maybe only of you pay 30K+ a year in taxes....maybe only if you're not a convicted felon....HMMMM....wait a minute I match ALL of the criteria above. SO maybe the real answer is you can only enjoy your "freedom" when you think and say exactly what THEY want you to..
Well I say that! I'm not changing for anyone or any dollar amount. I could have earned over a quarter million in that tournament but I don't give a . I'm no one's sheep and I will always be true to myself and my beliefs.
WM
P.S.
an Obama, a Disney, an ESPN and the Bellator Fighting Championship!
According to Fighters Only Magazine, the UFC has added Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk to the UFC 97 "Silva vs. Leites" card on April 18 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Kongo has a 6-2 record in the UFC with his last win coming against Mustapha al Turk at UFC 92. Hardonk has won his last three fights in the UFC and is currently 4-2 with the company. The winner of this fight is likely to be considered a top challenger to the UFC Heavyweight le.
Credit: fiveouncesofpain.com
With all due respect to Antoni, this is a fight Cheick Kongo should win.
Notice he never says " the ufc"
He has about 3 times.
well that was the dumbest thing he could possibly ever do. He could be a character in Jap Leagues.
via mmaweekly
UFC president Dana White still wants Fedor Emelianenko to fight in the Octagon. The thing is, he doesn't believe that Fedor, or at least his handlers, really have a strong interest in the Russian crusher coming to the UFC. Then again, he's not really sure what Fedor and his management wants.
"I want Fedor too, contrary to popular belief," he reiterated recently. In White's mind, it's just a matter of not being able to negotiate with Fedor's camp.
"I have no idea what they want. Everything makes no sense to me. I think they thought, 'You know, we'll partner up with these guys and we'll own a piece of this thing.' It's all mixed signals. You never know what these guys want," he stated, amused frustration in his tone.
"When I first met with these guys, (Fedor's) manager is like, 'Here's what we want to do. My brother is the biggest rock concert promoter over there. So here's what we want. We want you to build an arena in Russia,'" recounted White. "And I'm like, '(Expletive) timeout.' I want to sign a guy. I'm not looking to build arenas or get into business with you or anything like that. We'll pay him what he wants to be paid. We'll promote and do this and that. But it's not about Fedor when you talk to these guys."
Having built the UFC on the back of strong personal relationships in the fight game when there wasn't all that much money, if any, to throw around, the UFC President hasn't even met the No. 1 heavyweight in the world. "I've never met Fedor! I've never said one (expletive) word to the guy. I've never even seen him face to face."
The Fedor situation has strung out ever since Zuffa (the UFC's parent company) acquired Pride in spring of 2007. When the promotion was finally shuttered due to difficulties in trying to operate in Japan and several fighter contracts were either deemed non-transferrable or nonexistent, the UFC began signing fighters to new contracts. Fedor has been one of the only fighters to elude the MMA juggernaught.
At this point, it doesn't appear the UFC will ever be able to snare his services. White can only throw up his hands in frustration and move on.
"I don't know what they want... Fedor's one of these guys that, listen, everybody thinks that I won't give Fedor his props and everything. B.J. Penn and Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva and every other guy in this company fight the best of the best three times a year. Fedor's not doing that. If he wants to fight guys three times a year, prove he's the best, if he wants to do that, I'm willing to do it with him," says White.
"I don't think he cares about a legacy or any of that kind of stuff," he continued. "I don't know. I'd like to see him fight in the UFC."
Ben Askren’s MMA debut...best part is his buddy trying to put him on his shoulders after the fight...
http://www.watchkalibrun.com/2009/2/...in-s-mma-debut
Cyborg signed with Strikeforce…maybe we get Gina vs Cyborg afterall
http://sherdog.com/news/news/cyborg-...in-talks-16130
Ben Askren is my homeboy! Im serious!
According to Fiveouncesofpain.com, former Strikeforce middleweight champion Frank Shamrock will take on UFC and EliteXC veteran Nick Diaz.
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awesome
Nick will get killed...
Rich Clementi, Luigi Fioravanti, Derek Downey, Christian Wellisch, and Eddie Sanchez...all cut...
The only one I'd like to see stick around is Clementi...F Sanchez...
Nick will smoke him in 2.
Nick will get killed...
Rich will be back. I think I read this is his 3rd time to get cut.
Here is the read on Diaz-Shamrock
Former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Frank Shamrock will face EliteXC, UFC, and PRIDE veteran Nick Diaz at Strikeforce's April 11 show at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. It is currently unknown which weight class the two will fight in, however Diaz has mentioned in the past that he has no problem moving up a weight class.
The April 11 Strikeforce show is expected to air on Showtime and will also feature Scott Smith vs. Benji Radach. It has also been rumored that Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez will also be on the card, but opponents have yet to be announced.
Credit: fiveouncesofpain.com
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