Cain Velasquez was preparing for his fight against Brock Lesnar, even when he was training to face another UFC Heavyweight legend.
The two-time UFC Heavyweight champion took on Brock Lesnar in one of the great fights in UFC history back in October 2010.
The undefeated Cain Velasquez finished Brock Lesnar in the first round of their fight, which earned Velasquez his first world title.
It was one of the most spectacular finishes at UFC 121, cementing Velasquez as one of the most dangerous men in the game when he beat the much larger Lesnar in the octagon.
He had ample time to prepare for the bout, as he used his previous fight as practice to take down “The Beast”.
Cain Velasquez finished Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in two minutes on UFC’s debut in Australia
Months before his clash with Lesnar, Velasquez took on former UFC Heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira when the promotion went Down Under for the first time.
UFC 110 was a milestone for the promotion, as they expanded into the Australian market for a stacked card in the Acer Arena in Sydney.
It was headlined by an old guard vs rising star, as former UFC Heavyweight champion Nogueira battled undefeated rising star Velasquez in a world title eliminator.
A fight with Lesnar was on the line, and Velasquez knew he had what it took to take down a legend of the division.
He came out after the buzzer rang, swinging, landing combinations of punches and leg kicks to wear down his Brazilian opponent.
He put on a stand-up clinic, taking little punishment before flooring Nogueira with a wild one-two punch combination, before laying into the unconscious Heavyweight on the ground, before the referee stopped the fight after just two minutes of action.
Velasquez went 9-0 with that win, which was his toughest test so far. However, before the fight had even kicked off, the UFC legend already had one eye on fighting Lesnar.
Cain Velasquez admitted in the build-up that this fight was preparation to take on Brock Lesnar
While a win over a former UFC Heavyweight champion in such a destructive fashion was incredibly impressive, what made the win more spectacular was that Velasquez had one eye on Lesnar when he took the fight.
In the build-up to the 2010 fight, the UFC legend spoke with ESPN to give updates on his day-to-day training for his bout with Nogueira.
In it, he admitted that the fight with Nogueira was being used as preparation for Lesnar, although he clarified quickly that he was not looking past the Brazilian or taking the win for granted.
Velasquez wrote: “I know I would have to fight Brock Lesnar after this. Right now, I feel this fight would be good to prepare for that, but I am not looking past Nogueira.”
“And I am not looking past what can happen afterwards. All my focus is on him right now, and on what we’ll do on Sunday night.”
Velasquez famously beat Lesnar with a first-round Knockout of the Year, cementing himself as one of the all-time greats in the UFC Heavyweight division.