Fighter of the Year: Cain Velasquez

At 6-foot-1 and around 240 pounds, Cain Velasquez is no small man in the ordinary world, but among the UFC's supersized heavyweights, he hardly stands out for his size.

In fact, many heavyweights are either taller or heavier than Velasquez, and most are both. Yet by the end of 2010, it was Velasquez that reigned over the group of monster athletes.

For capturing the UFC heavyweight championship and completing a rapid rise to the top, Velasquez is MMA Fighting's 2010 Fighter of the Year.

The American Kickboxing Academy product fought just twice during the year, but exhibited dominant performances in both matches. In February, he took on the durable Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and needed just 2:20 to knock him out, marking the fastest loss of Nogueira's esteemed career. Then in October, he got his chance to fight Brock Lesnar for the championship.




At the time, Lesnar was fresh off his UFC 116 victory against Shane Carwin in which he overcame a hellacious first-round beating, survived, and submitted Carwin in the second round. The win served to prove that Lesnar was fully recovered from a dangerous bout with diverticulitis that sidelined him for months, and added to his reputation as a potentially unbeatable fighter.

By fight time, Lesnar was nearly a 2-to-1 favorite against Velasquez.

The fight itself was one-sided, but not in the way many expected. In a frantically paced, 4-minute, 12-second round, the two combined for three takedowns, over 100 strike attempts and and spent equal parts standing and on the ground. But it was nearly always Velasquez who seemed to be the one moving towards victory.

Cain Velasquez pounds out Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Exploited the holes in Lesnar's game, Velasquez hurt the champion with strikes, at one point sending Lesnar stumbling and sliding backwards in hopes of an escape. None would come. Velasquez's onslaught continued until the fight went to the ground, where he pounded on Lesnar. It seemed to be following the same script as Lesnar-Carwin, but Velasquez learned from those mistakes and chose his shots wisely. His punches breaking through Lesnar's defense, it became clear the champ was falling, and a new king would be crowned, and eventually that was the case, as Velasquez earned a stoppage victory.

He's a man that rarely smiles in the cage, but his face lit up, however briefly, upon the realization that he had become the champion.

It was the culmination of a dream for a man whose father had come to the US in hopes of a better life, and the storyline also resonated with fans who prize stories of success. Nearly as importantly, Velasquez helped the UFC continue its inroads to Spanish-speaking fans, heavily promoting his fight in Mexico and to Spanish-language news outlets, and perfectly setting him up for even bigger stardom in the future, as long as he can continue navigating through the land of the giants.