Sports Review Cain Velasquez UFS Heavyweight champ

He wasn`t there to defend his title but Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title holder Cain Velasquez certainly impressed fans of mixed martial arts fighting during a stop at the Orangeville Campus of Humber College on Wed., March 23.
The visit was the first stop on a three campus tour the champ was making to promote the sport in Ontario.
The event was organized by the Humber Student Federation for the campus, but word leaked out prompting quite a few local residents to turn out to hear Velasquez speak and field questions from the audience.
Velasquez defeated Brock Lesnar in a well publicized fight in October, 2010, that ended with a first round TKO and and Velasquez becoming the new UFC heavyweight champion.
UFC is hugely popular and growing since it`s inception in 1993.
Orangeville resident Alysia Doy attended the event with her 16 year-old daughter Savannah.
                                                                                          She brought several items for the champ to autograph including a poster and CD`s of his fights.
                                                                                         ``I came to get his autograph,`` she said. ``We have really got into UFC in the past couple of years.
                                                                                         My basement is loaded with memorabelia. We`re going to UFC in Toronto at the end of April.``
                                                                                         She wasn`t dissapointed.
                                                                                         Velasquez took the time to meet with every fan, signed autographs and had his picture taken
                                                                                         with admirers.
                                                                                         He began his mixed martial arts career in 2006 after completing college were he excelled at
                                                                                         wresting and was a two time All American at Arizona State University.
                                                                                         His pro record is unblemished with a 9-0 record including eight knockouts - he has never lost a
                                                                                         round in a MMA match.
                                                                                        ``I just knew it was a big fight,`` Velasquez said of training for his championship bout against
                                                                                         Lesnar. ``It was a huge fight. To fight against the best guy - people said he seemed untouchable,
                                                                                         he was too big for me, too strong, he was too powerful. He`s definetely a big guy. But I was
                                                                                         confident in myself and my ability. Training my whole life in wrestling, and for the UFC, he wasn`t
                                                                                         going to take away what I worked hard for. The way I did it, I think it surprised a lot of people.
                                                                                        But I give a lot of credit to my camp, my coaches. We knew what his strengths were and we knew
                                                                                        what his weaknesses were so we tried to expose that.``
                                                                                        Training as a fighter, he said, is consistency and a lot of determination.
                                                                                        ``You always have to want to got into the gym and keep learning,`` he said, ``It`s a grind to practice
                                                                                        every day when your body`s beat up, but you`ve always got to be hungry to go in there every day.
                                                                                        You have too keep up with or you`ll be stuck behind.``
                                                                                        In answer to a audience members question about his training regimen, Velasquez explained a
                                                                                        typical day.
                                                                                         `In the morning I go lift weights for about an hour and a-half or two hours, then go home and rest
                                                                                         and get something to eat. Then in the afternoon we are sparring. We`ll have gloves on, knee
                                                                                         pads, and head gear. We fight in there three times a week.``
Velasquez is currently tending to an injury after it was announced that he had suffered a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder in late 2010.
He underwent successful surgery but will still be out of action for a few months.
He hopes to get back in the ring with a title defence in the fall of 2011.
After leaving the Orangeville campus, Velasquez made stops at Humber`s North Campus in Etobicoke with a final stop at the Lakeshore Campus in Toronto.