UFC champ Cain Velasquez on training: Most prepared 'when I actually fight for a fight'

The best, top-ranked heavyweight in MMA soon returns to the cage for the first time since 2013. And though he’s tweaked the way he prepares for a fight, he’s said he’s still not changing the fundamentals of his often-grueling camps.

UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez (13-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC), who’s ranked No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings (and No. 5 pound-for-pound), meets interim titleholder Fabricio Werdum (19-5-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC) on June 13 in UFC 188’s pay-per-view headliner.

The title-unification bout, which takes place at Mexico City Arena in Mexico, is Velasquez’s first since October 2013, when he scored a TKO victory over Junior Dos Santos. The champ has been on the sidelines since then recovering from a torn meniscus. Since early 2013, the 32-year-old has fought just twice because of injuries – and it’s prompted some criticism of the training methods used at his home gym, the famed American Kickboxing Academy.

However, during a recent media day at AKA in San Jose, Velasquez told MMAjunkie that he considers hard training a needed requirement for his fight prep.

“I feel like it gets me ready for fights,” he said. “I feel like it’s the best way to get ready for fights. I feel like I’m most prepared when I actually fight for a fight.”

Still, as the former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler prepares for his ninth year in MMA, he said he’s learned to make some adjustments that are geared toward his health and career sustainability.

“More so (it’s) just listening to my body – little tweaks here and there,” said Velasquez, who was also sidelined most of 2011 with a shoulder injury. “I would say in those situations, it’s better to do less, to take off a little bit and then just come back strong rather than just beat the body down more and more and just breaking it down.”

For more on his injury recovery, pre-fight prep, his thoughts on Werdum and fighting in Mexico, check out the above video.

And for complete coverage of UFC 188, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.