FRESNO --Undefeated Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Cain Ramírez Velásquez may not fully understand the impact of his success.
Since defeating Brock Lesnar for the UFC heavyweight title last October, the 29-year-old fighter has been heralded as a champion for Latinos.
On Nov. 12, he defends the title as headliner in the first UFC show on Fox television against Junior Dos Santos, a mixed martial arts veteran from Brazil with a 38-1 record.
Velásquez visited Fresno on Oct. 22 and signed autographs for fans. He served as a reminder of the reward for hard work to the amateurs competing in the NorCal Finals: Up and Comers 7 at Sierra Sport and Racquet Club.
After a first-round win over Lesnar in UFC 121 last October in Anaheim, Velásquez (9-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) became the first Mexican to win the UFC heavyweight title.
"This belt, I dedicate to the Mexican people here in the United States and México," he said following the bout.
Velásquez' background is similar to many Latino immigrants in the U.S. His farmworker father, Efrén Velásquez, was deported many times to México. Efrén married Isabel, a U.S. citizen.
Cain Velásquez, who stands 6-feet-2 and weights 244 pounds, used his heavyweight wrestling career as a path to the UFC.
At the amateur event in Fresno, Velásquez posed for pictures while holding babies, shook hands with young wrestlers, and signed dozens of T-shirts.
Upon his introduction to about 400 fans in Fresno, the Vicente Fernández's 'El Mandado' (The Task) played on the sound system as Cain entered the chain-linked octagon.
"I don't know; no, I don't think of myself as a role model. I just live my life the way I want to," said Velásquez, who last worked as a bouncer in San José in 2009.
"But, if somebody can look up to me in that way, then I'm happy to be that person. I don't really consider myself one."
He models himself for his family, and the kids he's mentored and tutored, and advised about staying in school pursuing a college education.
"When I'm not training in the gym, I'm always with my family," he said about wife Michelle and daughter Coral, 2½.
Before he debuted as a professional mixed martial arts fighter in 2006, Velásquez was a two-time all-American wrester at Arizona State University.
An education major, he won 21 straight matches before losing in the semifinals at the 2005 NCAA Championships.
In his single season at Iowa Community College in 2002, he won the National Junior College Athletic Association's heavyweight division to help his school win the national title.
He ended his high school wrestling career in Yuma, Arizona with a 110-10 record.
In thinking about his career, he jumps back to the thoughts of his wife, Michelle, saying "She's pretty good, and confident in the place I have made for myself in the ring. It's been on her a lot. She's good about it, a lot better than some of the other wives I have seen," Cain said.
"After winning the title, as soon as I got the UFC contract, I knew I didn't have to work as a bouncer anymore, but it was the only way to get some money, so that's what I did."
Sandor Escobar, a young 20-year-old upstart who won his bout in Fresno and is eager to make the state championship, was greeted by Cain's entourage.
"Cain saw my knockout right there. I'm glad he was here to see that. I know he's the only Mexican up there, and that's going to be me one of these days," said Escobar, who trains with Team KO and is a 2009 graduate of El Diamante High School in Visalia.
"A lot of us look at Cain because he's accomplished a lot. I respect him a lot, absolutely," said Anthony Luciano Montez, of Madera, a 29-year-old security guard who desires an MMA professional career.