UFC NEWS: UFC Heavyweight Champ Cain Velasquez shows off some personality, happy to be a role model

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

New UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez got a chance to show some personality on Monday night, appearing on the TBS program George Lopez Tonight. Velasquez helped kick off the show in a short intro with Lopez, and was brought on for an interview later in the show, where he discussed his victory and becoming the first Mexican-American Champion in any combat sport.

"It feels great man, all the hard work that I put in comes down to one night, and I just had to go out there and work," Velasquez told Lopez.

After trading some jokes about Brock Lesnar's pre-fight comments that he would eat burritos and have some Corona's after the fight, Lopez then got back to the fight itself and asked Cain when he felt the tide turn in the bout on Saturday.

"It had to be in the middle of the fight, when I grabbed his leg and took him down, that's when I knew," Velasquez explained. "I was on top of him throwing punches, and he didn't get up right away. That felt like the turning point, at that moment."

Of course, much of the build to the fight was about Velasquez's heritage and his chance to be the "first Mexican Heavyweight Champion," and on the Latino-targeted show on Monday, Cain talked about what that meant to him.

"For me, I'm proud to represent," Velasquez said. "I was born here in the US, I'm American, but my parents are from Mexico. I grew up in Yuma, Arizona, close to the border, so we have ties there and we would always go there on the weekends.

"I'm just happy that people can look up to me in that way. If I can be a role model for kids, or anyone, I'm happy to be that person."

With Velasquez winning the fight, Lopez felt it appropriate that they finish the segment mirroring what Lesnar said he'd eat after the fight by taking in a traditional "white" meal: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the crusts cut off and a glass of milk.

Penick's Analysis: It was nice to see a joking and humorous side to the new Champion. He's a genuinely nice person and that definitely came across on the show. In this environment, on a show that definitely caters to the latino market in America, Velasquez came off very well and he can absolutely be a Champion that sells. He needs to be himself, amped up perhaps a little bit, but the UFC can still get plenty of people to watch him as he continues. With how many people will have seen this fight against Lesnar, they'll have seen perhaps his most impressive and dominating performance. With that, and him showing a little more personality, they can build him into another big draw.

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