Life at American Kickboxing Academy on Realm Drive in San Jose, California, is never easy – especially when one of the team’s star pupils is preparing for combat inside the world’s most competitive Octagon.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez joined teammates – including fellow fight stars Jon Fitch, Gray Maynard, Phil Baroni, Marius Zaromskis and Kyle Kingsbury – for another tough session at AKA HQ recently, as he closed in on an Octagon return.

Velasquez features on the December, 2012 UFC 155 card in Las Vegas, challenging Junior Dos Santos for the heavyweight crown at the top of the card. Teammate Maynard had been booked on the main card too, opposite Joe Lauzon, prior to a knee injury.

After surrendering the UFC title following a shock 64-second KO back in November 2011, Velasquez admitted he was out for revenge, and believed his lay-off – seven months – would work in his favor.

“When you rush training when you have a fight coming up, that’s when you get injured,” Velasquez says. “You’re just piling on too much in the beginning, when it needs to be (small) steps going into your training camp.” 

He explains: “It’s just so easy to get hurt in this sport. Whether it be cuts, your joints, bones, everything can mess up at any given time. The way that we train is just so much like a real fight.

“We don’t worry about getting hurt in the gym. We just don’t. We go in, and we just try to get the best workout we can, compete against our teammates, because that’s what we’re doing. We’re always trying to be the best even inside the gym. It’s just so easy to get hurt.”

THE FIGHT

Cain Velasquez had his revenge, defeating Dos Santos by unanimous decision after five rounds to win the UFC Heavyweight championship. He defeated Dos Santos again with a final round TKO in UFC 166 to retain his title.