🥋 Sundays with Cain – Episode 24 - A ROLL & RUMBLE Fight Co. Exclusive

Interview by “D-Man,” CTF Inmate Correspondent

Loose Threads & Writing Back

For months, Cain kept telling me he’d been “getting letters from people” and wasn’t sure if he “should write them back.” I told him absolutely—write your fans back.

But this week was different.
This week, he asked if I would help him write them back.

Of course, I said yes.

For three nights straight, we sat at a table in the back of the day room—three hours at a time—going through every letter he had. I filled out the envelopes while he wrote. Really, he just needed someone to organize the pile so he could focus on responding personally to each person who reached out.

He’d read a letter carefully, then write a thoughtful reply tailored to the exact words that person had written him. It was good to see. And I know—without a doubt—that when these people receive their letters, they’ll feel how much it meant to him.

To Gerald (Morgan Hill, CA),
Mason (Larkfield-Wikiup, CA),
Johnny (Sacramento, CA),
Jason (Salinas, CA),
Christopher (Colton, CA),
Alysa (San Jose, CA),
Juan (East L.A., CA),
Carmen (San Jose, CA),
David (San Antonio, TX),
Omer (Plano, TX),
Roberto (Garland, TX),
Holly (Parker, CO),
Ulises (Northglenn, CO),
Christopher (Hartford, CT),
Josh (Covington, LA),
Michael (Henderson, NV),
Wade (Crawfordville, FL),
Chuck (Atchison, KS),
Brian (Davidson, NC),
Hannah (Tucson, AZ),
and the two Michaels from Tucson—
Cain says thank you. Your letters are on the way.

Tying Up Loose Threads

We carved out a little time to connect last week’s ASU chapter with the next stage of his journey: his transition into MMA and the path that eventually led him to San Jose and AKA.

After graduating, did he leave Arizona immediately?

“No,” he says. “I trained at a local gym for a few months—Arizona Combat Sports, run by the Lally brothers, in Tempe.”

Who trained there?

“Bader, Moraga, CB, Larkin, Simpson, Starks… probably forgetting some. A bunch of us wrestlers ended up there.”

What about Thom?

“I’m not sure. Probably out of his garage with one of those ‘BOB’ punching dummies.”

So Cain was the only one who moved to AKA?

“Actually, Kyle Kingsbury followed me. He played football at ASU.”

Why AKA?

“DeWayne Zinkin was coaching there for Javier. He wrestled at Fresno State when Thom was at ASU—they knew each other. Javier had always dreamed of having a Mexican heavyweight. DeWayne and Bob Cook told him, ‘We found your guy.’”

Cain laughs as he remembers that first visit.

“Javier looked at me funny—like he’d never seen a Mexican like me. I think it threw him off. But the first time he saw me spar, he said he knew I could do it.”

A Leap of Faith

Cain was training at Combat in Arizona when he got the call:
Pack your things. Come to San Jose.

“The transition from school to fighting was a leap of faith,” he tells me. “I packed everything into my Mercedes 300E. I wasn’t going to use my degree. It was fight or bust.”

(And yes, editorial correction from last week—Cain does have a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with minors in Education and Women’s Studies. He laughed when we cleared that up.)

But not everyone supported his choice.

“When I told family and friends I was going to fight, they said I was crazy. The support I expected wasn’t there. It was the opposite. My wrestling team—mainly Thom—were the ones who believed in me.”

His parents were living in Salinas at the time, which gave him a place to land.

Cloves, Memories & Candy Pumpkins

Cain pulls out a small container of Milpas whole cloves and asks, “Want one?”

“For what?” I ask.

“To put in your mouth.”

We each take one, letting the flavor sink in as he explains:

“When I smell or taste cloves, it reminds me of my dad’s mom. She used to bake small pumpkins with raw sugar, butter, and cloves inside—cook them until they caramelized into this candy pumpkin. You could eat the whole thing, seeds and all.”

Every time he smells cloves, that memory returns.

Life in a Crown Vic & Sleeping in Cars

“When I got to Salinas, my dad gave me a better car for the long commute—a 1998 light-blue Crown Victoria. I spent the first couple months driving back and forth. Eventually, I started staying near the gym during the week.”

Where did you stay?

“For about three months, I slept in my car. I’d park near the gym, train all day, then sleep in the car until sunrise and do it all again.”

One morning, Bob Cook spotted him in the Home Depot parking lot. Bob and his girlfriend had an extra room and invited him to stay.

“I slept on an air mattress with SpongeBob sheets,” Cain laughs. “It would deflate a little every night, and I’d wake up on the floor. Bob let a lot of fighters crash there. I probably stayed a year and a half.”

Eventually, he moved in with Michelle.

The Blue Cheese Incident

Cain bursts out laughing as he remembers this one.

“The first meal Michelle ever made for me—maybe vegetables, potatoes, and a steak—but the steak had blue cheese everywhere. I wasn’t used to eating rich food. My stomach was wrecked. The next morning, she said, ‘You had one of the nastiest farts ever last night.’ It was winter, all the windows closed… it was the blue cheese.”

He’s laughing so hard he’s crying while telling it.

Islam, Khabib & Respect Among Warriors

We ended the week on Islam Makhachev’s latest accomplishment—winning a second title in a second weight class. Javier Mendez now calls him possibly one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters ever.

“Javier is the greatest MMA trainer of all time,” Cain says confidently.

Did he train with Islam?

“When Khabib came to AKA years ago, he brought his dad, Abdul, his brother, Umar, Islam, and a few others. Islam was always part of that crew. I trained with Khabib a couple of times, and I did some light technical sparring with Islam. His standup was really good—his punches were really sneaky.”

A reporter once asked Islam who he’d want with him in a street fight. His answer: Cain Velasquez.

Cain smiles, nodding slowly.
“There’s a lot of respect there. He’s going to be a great champion.”

Javier, meanwhile, has been splitting his time between Dagestan and Dubai for the past few years.

Wrapping Up

We’re short on time this week, but Cain wants to say this directly:

To everyone who wrote him—thank you. Check your mailbox. Something might already be on its way.

Share Cain’s story with a friend. Stories like these lift people up.

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