The 2016 MMA National Olympic Teams: Mexico

With the 2016 Summer Olympics scheduled for Aug. 5-21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sherdog.com staff and contributors sat down to put together hypothetical MMA Olympic teams for the following countries: United States, Canada, Japan, Great Britain, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, Australia and Sweden. This 10-part series will map out the yellow brick road to Rio de Janeiro for the men and women who call the cage home, Zika virus be damned.*** Its lack of individual success notwithstanding, Mexico has a rich Olympic history on which to hang its hat. The country served as host for the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City, where George Foreman captured the gold medal in heavyweight boxing and paraded around the ring waving a small American flag that was dwarfed further by the massive cinder blocks he called hands. Mexican athletes have combined to win 62 medals in the Olympics and have struck gold in various events, from equestrian, diving and boxing to swimming and weightlifting. Diver Joaquin Capilla Perez is credited as the nation’s most decorated Olympian of all-time, having medaled on four occasions: a gold, a silver and two bronze. Perez, then 27, was awarded his gold medal in the men’s 10-meter platform in 1956. Horseman Humberto Mariles Cortes remains the only Mexican to win multiple gold medals. He stood atop the equestrian podium twice at the 1948 Summer Games in London. What if Mexico were to field an MMA team? In a hypothetical scenario that allowed for the formation of such a squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the country would have a relatively shallow talent pool upon which to draw. There are some gems among the diamonds in the rough. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder Cain Velasquez spearheads the make-believe team from South of the Border, as he pays homage to parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico prior to his birth. Invicta Fighting Championships women’s strawweight sensation Alexa Grasso joins the American Kickboxing Academy rep as one of the Mexican roster’s pillars and one of its primary hopes for a medal. Entram Gym trainer Raul Arvizu and Lobo Gym coach Francisco Grasso will share the coaching duties, overseeing a staff that includes UFC veteran Roger Huerta, World Extreme Cagefighting alum Olaf Alfonso and former World Series of Fighting women’s strawweight champion Jessica Aguilar, who continues to recover from a knee injury.2016 Mexico National MMA Team • Heavyweight: Cain Velasquez • Light Heavyweight: Jorge Gonzales • Middleweight: Augusto Montano • Welterweight: Erick Montano • Lightweight: Efrain Escudero • Featherweight: Yair Rodriguez • Bantamweight: Marco Beltran • Flyweight: Brandon Moreno • Women’s Bantamweight: Irene Aldana • Women’s Strawweight: Alexa GrassoHEAVYWEIGHT: Velasquez gives Mexico perhaps its best chance for gold. Before transitioning to mixed martial arts, he was a two-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Arizona State University, where he won back-to-back Pac-10 conference championships. The Salinas, California, native was widely regarded as MMA’s premier heavyweight before he was sidetracked by injuries, his resume buoyed by victories over Junior dos Santos (twice), Antonio Silva (twice), Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Ben Rothwell and Brock Lesnar. A submission loss to Fabricio Werdum at UFC 188 in June 2015 cost Velasquez the heavyweight championship, snapped his four-fight winning streak and raised questions …

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