Velasquez ready for everything ‘Bigfoot’ might throw
By BOB EMANUEL JR.
A year ago, Cain Velasquez’s bout against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva was about redemption.
Velasquez suffered the first loss of his career six months earlier when Junior dos Santos defeated him for the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title.
Silva’s career was stuck in neutral with two losses in five fights, including his previous outing against Daniel Cormier in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix in 2011.
Velasquez won the fight with a first-round TKO of Silva and, seven months later, recaptured the title with a decision over dos Santos.
Saturday night in the main event of UFC 160 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Velasquez and Silva will meet again — with much higher stakes. Velasquez will defend his title for the first time, and Silva — fresh off a pair of victories, including one over former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem — aims to begin his own championship pedigree.
“This is a whole new fight,” Velasquez said. “Obviously, we saw what Bigfoot can do in his past two fights. You can’t take him lightly. He is a tough competitor. He has really dangerous cuts in the Octagon. So I don’t see this as anything less than a hard, grueling fight, and that’s what I’m expecting.”
Velasquez, 11-1, knows Silva will likely deploy a new strategy this time around.
“For me, the game plan is staying the same, but I just have to be ready for everything,” Velasquez said.
Despite the loss a year ago, Silva said he confident he can add Velasquez to his growing list of upset victims, including Overeem and Fedor Emelianenko.
“I like when people underestimate me,” said Silva, who boasts an 18-4 record. “It’s nice. I get to go out there, and I get to show them wrong. There are no superheroes in this sport. Nobody is invincible. And I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work for the last nine weeks. I have been preparing myself, and I’m very confident that I’m going to have my arm raised.”
Beyond the championship, the event may also crown the UFC’s top heavyweight contender. Dos Santos will face fast-rising prospect Mark Hunt on the undercard. With a victory, dos Santos will likely earn a chance to recapture his title.
“It was very difficult to accept my loss to Cain,” dos Santos said. “The first week was a little tough. Of course, I was upset. But Cain was better than me, he fought better than me. He did a better job, he deserved to win. Once you do that you realize, you know, that’s what this sport is all about.”
