Kicking off fight week for UFC 121, the UFC organized a public rally for Cain Velasquez this past Sunday. The “Cain Train” featured Velasquez in a meet and greet with fans and the media.
Payout Perspective:
From a PR standpoint, the old-fashioned public rally provided good video and photo ops for media and fans. The UFC capitalized on the LA crowd of predominant Hispanic people to promote Velasquez as a sort of “people’s champion.” The rally was a good way to kick off a big week for the UFC leading up to Saturday.
He has some decent pull with the Latino community in the US – the boxing commentators on ESPN Deportes and Fox Deportes mention him once in a while, which is a change from English speaking boxing commentators to whom MMA is anathema. Time will tell how much pull he develops in Mexico itself.