At the exact same spot Cain Velasquez won the most important bout of his Ultimate Fighting Championship career, he’s defending his heavyweight title in what UFC president Dana White is calling the biggest match in company history.Velasquez,
back in action for the first time since beating Brock Lesnar last October at UFC 121 to become heavyweight champion, puts his belt on the line against Junior dos Santos in the main event of UFC on Fox, live from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Despite all the hype surrounding the company’s long-awaited debut on network television, however, Velasquez says he’s focused on only one thing – beating No. 1 contender dos Santos “From both of us, we have exciting fighting styles. We don’t go out there and put on boring fights. We’re both going to go forward,” said Velasquez this week in Anaheim, where he makes a comeback from shoulder surgery that has sidelined him since the Lesnar contest.
“That’s what fans are going to see. That’s what people who haven’t seen this before are going to see on Saturday.”
Dos Santos (13-1), who has been waiting more than a year for a shot at the title, says he isn’t putting any extra burden on himself, despite the magnitude of the evening.
“I feel really excited, but no pressure. It’s the same pressure I felt in my last fight. This is huge for me and I want to enjoy it and I will,” said dos Santos.
“Cain has amazing stamina. I think in this case, Cain Velasquez is the No. 1 heavyweight now. I want to change this on Saturday. It’s going to be a great fight and a war. I think a lot of people are going to be rooting for him on Saturday night, but I know I’ll have a lot of people rooting for me around the world. I’ll use that energy on Saturday night
“I will give my best to make this belt a Brazilian belt. I’m ready to go five rounds, but I think this fight finishes before.”
White, who along with brother Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta purchased UFC in 2001 for a mere $2 million and has built it into a combat-sports empire worth more than $1 billion according to several estimates, makes no secret of how big the card is for the company.
“This is without a doubt the biggest fight in UFC history. This thing started as a small fringe sport and has grown to what it is today. This Saturday night as we step out onto Fox, millions of people will see UFC who’ve never watched before,” said White.
“As we take this step forward into what we call ‘mainstream,’ we were much more fortunate in that we were able to hand pick a fight that we wanted to put on Fox. If I had to do it all over again, this is still the fight I’d pick to put on network television.”
In other matches at UFC on Fox:
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