Cain Velasquez still remembers the moment he first sized up Brock Lesnar—a mountain of a man who looked every bit the challenge he’d prove to be. The two heavyweight titans collided at UFC 121 in October 2010, and while Velasquez walked away with a first-round knockout and the UFC heavyweight title, his initial reaction to Lesnar was pure disbelief at the sheer scale of his opponent.

“Obviously, his size,” Velasquez recalled in a chat with Tim Kennedy. “His size, his power, and knowing how good of a wrestler he is. Again, OK, dangerous, can be dangerous, especially with a certain style, for sure. But his massive size is like, ‘Wow, it’s a big human.’” Lesnar wasn’t just big—he was a freak athlete. A former NCAA wrestling champ turned pro wrestling megastar, he’d snagged the UFC heavyweight belt in only his fourth MMA fight, relying on that hulking frame and grappling pedigree. But against Velasquez, size alone wasn’t enough. Cain weathered Lesnar’s early storm, then turned the tables with a relentless barrage of punches that ended it quick and claimed the gold.

Velasquez, a two-time NCAA All-American wrestler himself, was no stranger to big challenges. He credits his prep work with an elite crew—including future UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier—for giving him the edge. “I probably weighed in at, like, 240-something going in,” Velasquez said. “My strong suits with him, I was very good at getting off on the bottom. We did this in college wrestling a lot. I was just very good at getting up from the bottom, so I knew if I were to get stuck there, then it could be a long night for me, but we worked on that over and over again with DC. We had another national champion heavyweight wrestler come in.

“We started in the worst positions, whatever [coach] Bob [Cook] said, in the middle of sparring, I had to lay down on my back with 16-ounce gloves and had DC lay on top of me and that’s where we started from multiple times a round. So I was very good at getting up from the bottom, especially for that camp, and I knew I just had to keep it on the feet with strikes. Just the pressure of everything, but it didn’t matter for me. My mentality was I didn’t care if I lost or won, I’m just going to give you what I have. That’s it. That’s all I could do.”

Velasquez’s game plan paid off big-time that night, and he went on to defend his title twice as heavyweight champ. But injuries piled up, derailing what could’ve been an even longer reign, and he hung up his MMA gloves in 2019. Post-retirement, he dipped his toes into pro wrestling, working stints with WWE and other promotions, showing that same tenacity in a new arena. These days, though, Velasquez is navigating a tougher fight outside the cage. He’s awaiting sentencing after pleading no-contest to charges tied to a 2022 incident where he fired shots into a vehicle carrying Harry Goularte, a man accused of molesting Velasquez’s son at a daycare run by Goularte’s mother. It’s a messy chapter that’s kept him in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

So how would Velasquez stack up against today’s heavyweight elite, like Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall? He’s not one to boast, but he’s intrigued by the idea. “I think they’d be close fights or exciting fights,” Velasquez said. He didn’t tip his hand on who’d win, but you can bet those matchups would’ve had fans buzzing. Back in his prime, Velasquez brought a mix of wrestling grit and striking fury that could’ve tested anyone. For now, though, that Lesnar fight remains a defining moment—a night when Cain stared down a giant, stayed cool, and came out on top.