Velasquez still wary of ‘Bigfoot’

It would be easy for Cain Velasquez to be overconfident heading into his rematch against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the main event of UFC 160 Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

After all, it was on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Memorial Day weekend card a year ago when Velasquez dominated Silva for the entire 3:36 of a bloodbath technical knockout at the same venue.

Velasquez, who has since reclaimed the heavyweight title, insists he is not letting that overwhelming performance affect his preparations this time.

“This is a whole new fight,” the 30-year-old said on a conference call last week. “Obviously we saw what Bigfoot can do in his past two fights (since losing to Velasquez). You can’t take him lightly, he is a tough competitor. So I don’t see this as anything less than a hard, grueling fight, and that’s what I’m expecting.”

The first meeting was Velasquez’s first fight since losing the belt to Junior dos Santos, and he appeared to take out his frustrations on Silva. Now that he has regained the belt in a December win over dos Santos, Velasquez’s focus is on keeping it.

“To me right now, it’s the most important thing to defend it, just to hold onto it,” he said.

A bout between dos Santos and Mark Hunt on the same card Saturday likely will determine the next title challenger.

The fight had been in jeopardy for the past two weeks due to complications Hunt faced in obtaining a visa to travel to the United States. He tweeted Sunday that he has been given clearance to fly to Las Vegas from New Zealand.

■ DIAZ SUSPENDED, FINED — A story involving marijuana and a Diaz brother being disciplined is usually fairly straightforward. That’s not the case this time, as UFC lightweight contender Nate Diaz has been suspended 90 days and fined $20,000 for a tweet in which he directed a gay slur at another fighter.

Last week it was announced that Pat Healy tested positive for marijuana following his UFC 159 win over Jim Miller on April 27. In addition to the commission-mandated penalties, he forfeited $130,000 in bonus money for submission of the night and fight of the night.

Bryan Caraway, who had the only other submission on the card, lobbied for and received the $65,000 submission bonus. That move infuriated several fighters, but Diaz was ruled to have violated the UFC code of conduct when he tweeted in sympathy with Healy and directed the slur at Caraway.

A UFC statement read, in part: “The language used in his tweet was regrettable, offensive and inconsistent with the values and culture of the organization, and is not tolerated.”

Diaz has not spoken publicly since the discipline was announced.

■ BARAO REPORTEDLY OUT — UFC interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao reportedly suffered a right foot injury, forcing him out of his fight against Eddie Wineland in the main event of UFC 161 on June 15 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Brazilian MMA news outlet Tatame.com reported the story Saturday. The UFC has yet to confirm the information, and there has been no word on a possible replacement.

Barao, 26, won the interim title in July with a unanimous decision over Urijah Faber, then defended it in February with a submission of Michael McDonald. Barao is on a 30-fight unbeaten streak after losing his pro debut in 2005.

Champion Dominick Cruz has been out since October 2011.

■ TUFF-N-UFF EVENT — Las Vegas-based amateur promotion Tuff-N-Uff will host a “Festibrawl” card Sunday at the South Point Arena. The event will include live music, beer sampling and a barbecue. It starts at 5:30 p.m., with the fight card beginning at 7.

The event features the third amateur bout of Montel Williams Jr., son of the television personality of the same name. Williams faces debuting welterweight Jason Weyrich.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.