LOS ANGELES — This Saturday night, Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos will be on a stage no UFC fighter has been on before.
But to them, it’s the same Octagon as ever.
Despite the fact that their main event on FOX will headline a historic show in Anaheim and many more eyes than usual — perhaps millions — will be on them, both heavyweights were relaxed, focused and more than courteous with the media and fans at the fighter workouts Thursday, which were held at the UFC Gym in Rosemead, Calif., and open to the public.
And neither was really feeling any added weight from all the extra attention. Nevermind the enormity of it all; it’s the same old, same old for them.
“I’m just thinking about the fight and what I have to do to be ready,” Velasquez said. “I don’t think about the outside stuff and what’s going on. I just deal with my opponent and that’s it.”
The UFC heavyweight champion admitted to not being one to be overly comfortable with the media activities. But he said it’s easy for him to adapt.
“I just don’t really think too much about it,” Velasquez said. “It’s all about the fight and the training. This stuff I do to the best of my abilities, but I don’t want to get overwhelmed with the stuff I have to do. It’s part of the job, so why worry about it?”
Meanwhile, the challenger Dos Santos said instead of pressure, he feels their opportunity is a privilege.
“I’m really happy because the UFC trusts this big event on me and Cain Velasquez. So it’s a big deal,” he said.
Dos Santos was all smiles when he walked in, both in response to the giant cheers he got from fans in attendance and with the media.
“Like I used to say, when you are nice, nice things happen to you,” Dos Santos said.
“So I like to be nice,” he continued, before qualifying his statement, cognizant of the fact that he’s a UFC fighter. “But when I come to fight and in the Octagon, I take that very serious and I keep my focus on my opponent and my objective to win the fight.”
He also understands the importance of keeping your emotions in control during a fight.
“The goal inside the cage is to win the fight, so you have to keep your focus on that,” Dos Santos said. “So that’s what I try to do. I just want to win the fight. I don’t want to hurt my opponent, I don’t want to hurt myself. I just want to win the fight and use my skills to do that.”
As far as his skills go, he’s been developing them at a rapid rate. The 27-year-old Brazilian has only been fighting in MMA for six years and when he first got in the sport, the 6-foot-4 fighter with 77-inch reach and eight knockouts in 14 fights didn’t even have any boxing experience.
He must have been a natural. He won his debut by first-round TKO due to strikes. Afterward, he said he got a boxing coach and soon enough he was training in boxing every day.
By the time he joined the UFC in 2008, you could say he honed those skills. Coming in as an unknown and an underdog against the more experienced Fabricio Werdum, Dos Santos connected with a huge uppercut just over a minute into the opening frame, announcing his entrance into the Octagon with a knockout of the night performance.
He’s unbeaten since, with four more stoppages from strikes and unanimous decisions in his past two fights.
So it’s only natural that people are tapping his fight against Velasquez as one of those striker vs. wrestler bouts. Dos Santos doesn’t really see it being that simple though.
“I love to fight standup, so that’s what I will try to do. I think Cain is going to try to put me down,” Dos Santos said. “Cain is a really tough guy, he’s going to try to keep the pressure on me all the time and I will be looking for the knockout the whole time. But if he takes me down, I think I’m ready to finish the fight too on the ground.”
So does that mean he’d rather look for a submission on the ground than try to scramble and get the fight back to the feet?
“My first reaction when I go to the ground is go back to my feet, but I train a lot in my jiu-jitsu and I’m ready. If he takes me down and holds me there, all you guys will be watching my jiu-jitsu. You’ll see my jiu-jitsu.”
Still, Velasquez knows the biggest danger against Dos Santos will be when the two are upright. Dos Santos is great with his hands and has some of the best power in the heavyweight division, which was evidenced quite well for all to see Thursday when he did some padwork in the Octagon. The swiftness of his strikes was not lost on the fans in attendance.
Dos Santos constantly throws similar combinations in his fights, yet nobody has been able to stop him (at least not in the UFC — his one career loss was in another promotion four years ago to the day).
Velasquez attributes that to his great technique.
“He’s so quick and he keeps his hands in the right position every time,” Velasquez said. “With his technique, he brings his hands right back, he has good defence, and the punches that he throws are powerful and he times it well. So those are things we have to look out for.”
As far as Velasquez goes, his rise has been just as quick as Dos Santos’, as have been most of his finishes. Unbeaten in nine fights, the 29-year-old has but one decision. All the rest of his wins have been by knockout, with none going past 2:34 of the second round (six were before the first round-ending bell).
He’s currently on a long layoff after tearing his rotator cuff in his right shoulder in his title win over Brock Lesnar just over a year ago. But he’s not concerned about ring rust by any stretch.
“I’m ready, I did all the training in the gym already,” Velasquez said. “My body feels good. I’m ready to fight. The shoulder’s 100 per cent. The time off really helped it.”
The only question now is, will Saturday’s fight go a full five rounds, or will the first ever UFC fight on FOX be a quick one?
With only three decisions in 23 fights combined for the two main event competitors, the odds are in favour of the latter.
