Dana White is a longtime boxing fan so he's seen on numerous occasions how rabid Mexican fight fans can be. Breaking into the Latino market has always been a goal of the UFC and they may finally have their guy if Mexican-American Cain Velasquez can pull the upset on UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar at UFC 121.
"If Cain Velasquez wins on Saturday night, for the Hispanic market, it's crazy," White told Karyn Bryant. "Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, when they have a champion, it's crazy."
White pointed to the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez as a prime example.
"It's like when Greg Haugen went down into Mexico City and said all that crazy stuff. I think that's this type of fight," said White.
The prefight talk for the 1993 match got nasty.
"(Chavez's 82-fight win streak consisted of) Tijuana taxi drivers that my mother could have knocked out," said Haugen. He also took a shot at the Mexican fans. "There aren't 130,000 Mexicans who can afford tickets."
Chavez hyped the fight by saying, "I really hate him bad. When he looks at me, I want to vomit. I am going to give him the worst beating of his life. I am going to make him swallow the words that came out of his dirty mouth."
Chavez-Haugen drew 130,000-plus fans in Mexico City.
Velasquez overcoming the might of Lesnar, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound monster, who looks like he came straight out of video game, only adds to the passion of the Latino fans.
"Brock Lesnar is the guy that the Mexican community wants to see Cain Velasquez smash," said White.
The fanbase starting getting revved up during a Velasquez rally last Sunday in Los Angeles. It was a wild scene attended by a thousand-plus fight fans.
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