Velasquez victory could expand MMA popularity

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Since the day Cain Velasquez debuted in the Ultimate Fighting Championship with a quick knockout of Brad Morris in early 2008, he has been pegged as a future heavyweight champion.

Perhaps the only thing that has surpassed the 28-year-old's expectations in the cage has been the marketing potential that the organization sees in Velasquez in one of its most coveted demographics.

Velasquez is the bilingual, American-born son of an illegal immigrant father from Mexico and bears a massive "Brown Pride" tattoo across his upper chest.

He represents the UFC's best opportunity to date to further its popularity in Mexico and the rest of the Spanish-speaking world, a market with a rich tradition of boxing fans that has been somewhat slow to latch on to mixed martial arts.

Now as Velasquez stands on the eve of possibly achieving his goal of winning the heavyweight title, the promotional angle has fallen perfectly into place at a time when immigration reform is one of the hotly debated topics in America.

Velasquez will take on heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, a conservative Midwesterner with a penchant for huntin' and fightin', in the main event of UFC 121 tonight at the Honda Center.

The fight has been heavily publicized as the opportunity for Velasquez to become the first heavyweight champion of Mexican ancestry in combat sports, though to do so he will need to overcome a 20-pound weight disadvantage.

Lesnar has been the perfect foil.

He stated on a TV show that he would celebrate his win over Velasquez by drinking a Corona and eating a burrito. In the end, Velasquez realizes the comment, along with all the marketing and hype, means little once the bell rings.

"It's just in one ear and out the other," Velasquez said. "We're going to fight (tonight), and that's all it comes down to."

He has, however, embraced the role of unofficial UFC ambassador to Mexico, even filming a short promotional mock movie trailer titled "El Guererro," which features Lesnar's controversial quote and warns the champion just "(messed) with the wrong Mexican."

"I don't feel any pressure from it," said Velasquez, who coincidentally grew up in Arizona, a hotbed of the current political discussion about immigration. "I feel good that I can represent my people. If they're going to look at me that way, like they can look up to me, then I feel good."

One fighter who knows firsthand what Velasquez is dealing with is Tito Ortiz. The former light heavyweight champion has always embraced his Mexican-American heritage, often coming to the cage waving a two-sided flag representing both nations.

"The UFC is a marketing machine, and they're right on target. Cain fits the demographic well. It's nice to see another Latino be successful in this," Ortiz said. "There's a lot of kids who look up to him and a lot of kids who look up to me. Hopefully, he's able to (live up to that)."

Ortiz also fights on the card, taking on Matt Hamill, but is in a far different position than Lesnar and Velasquez.

He will be looking for his first victory in more than four years. Essentially just living off his name of late, Ortiz hasn't had a performance to match his stature in quite some time, both because of injury and the evolution of the sport.

He insists that will change now that he has deemed himself to finally be completely healthy, which he also did before his last fight, a loss to Forrest Griffin in November.

Jake Shields will make his UFC debut on the card. The former Elite XC and Strikeforce champion signed as a free agent in the summer and will look to extend a 14-fight winning streak and grab the No. 1 contender spot in the welterweight division when he meets Las Vegan Martin Kampmann.

In an expected heavyweight slugfest, Gabriel Gonzaga will meet former professional football player Brendan Schaub. Also, welterweights Diego Sanchez and Paulo Thiago square off.

The pay-per-view broadcast airs live at 7 p.m. Two preliminary bouts in the middleweight division will be shown live on Spike (Cable 29) at 6.

Tom Lawlor meets former title challenger Patrick Cote, and Court McGee takes on Ryan Jensen.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.