This Week’s MMA Birthdays: Cain Velasquez Turns 31

---

Two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder Cain Velasquez will celebrate his 31st birthday on July 28.

Velasquez became the third man to win the heavyweight championship twice -- Randy Couture and Tim Sylvia are the others -- when he avenged his only career loss and defeated Junior dos Santos by unanimous decision at UFC 155 in December. He out-landed “Cigano” by a 210-66 margin in total strikes and secured 11 takedowns in the one-sided five-round affair, earning 50-45, 50-43 and 50-44 marks from the judges.

Based at the American Kickboxing Academy, Velasquez last appeared at UFC 160 in May, when he needed less than 90 seconds to turn away Antonio Silva and retain his title. The Salinas, Calif., native was a two-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Arizona State University, where he won a pair of Pac-10 Conference championships.

Velasquez will defend his heavyweight crown in the UFC 166 headliner on Oct. 19, when he faces dos Santos for a third time at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Those in MMA celebrating a birthday the week covering July 28-Aug. 3:

JULY 28

Dana White (44)
Cain Velasquez (31)
Darrell Horcher (26)

JULY 29

Dave Menne (39)
Yoshihiro Akiyama (38)
Jay Hieron (37)
Matt Grice (32)

JULY 30

Murilo Bustamante (47)
Fabricio Werdum (36)
Marius Zaromskis (33)
Robert Emerson (32)

JULY 31

Jim Theobald (36)
Joseph Benavidez (29)

AUG. 1

Gegard Mousasi (28)

AUG. 2

Krzysztof Soszynski (36)
Jeff Hougland (35)
John Kelly (35)
Ivan Musardo (33)
Aleksander Emelianenko (32)
Nick Diaz (30)

AUG. 3

Eric Esch (47)
Johnny Eduardo (35)
Carey Vanier (32)
Aleksandar Radosavljevic (30)

Reader comments are active below.