LOS ANGELES — While Cain Velasquez patiently waits his turn for a shot at the UFC heavyweight title, Ben Rothwell thinks he can sneak up and take that place in line. After all, he's been waiting a whole lot longer.

Although the unbeaten Velasquez carries more potential and star power into the Staples Center octagon when they meet in UFC 104 Saturday night, Rothwell believes he's paid enough dues to make a memorable UFC debut before Lyoto Machida's light heavyweight title defense against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

Though they're nearly the same age, Velasquez is a relative newcomer to mixed martial arts with just six UFC bouts on his record in three years, while Rothwell slogged through more than a dozen MMA promotions over the past decade before finally getting the golden ticket to the major league.

Even with the odds and physical statistics stacked against him, Rothwell insists he's feeling "no more pressure than in any other fight I've ever had."

"You go in there overconfident and the guy catches you with the right hand and you get knocked out, well, you just ruined your career," Rothwell said. "So you should have just as much pressure for that small know-nothing fight as you do the biggest fight, you know what I mean? It's only as big as you make it in your head."

A few months ago, UFC 104 was expected to feature a meeting between Shane Carwin and Velasquez, who joined UFC along with Brock Lesnar nearly two years ago in a remarkable influx of talent to the often-dull heavyweight division. All three are former college wrestling stars and tremendous athletes who seemed likely to topple the slow-moving strikers who had previous success as MMA heavyweights.

That's exactly what has happened so far: Carwin and Velasquez are undefeated, and Lesnar has been the UFC heavyweight champion since stopping Randy Couture last November. When Lesnar decided to defend his title next month in Las Vegas, the 34-year-old Carwin got the shot over the 27-year-old Velasquez by virtue of his longer, more impressive record.

Velasquez has betrayed little disappointment about being passed over, or the idea he might need to wait even longer for a shot at Lesnar if Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira might fight the winner of that Lesnar-Carwin bout next month.

"It was discouraging at first, but then I really couldn't dwell on it," said Velasquez, a native Northern Californian who's expected to be a major crowd favorite in Los Angeles. "And then they gave me Ben Rothwell after that. You know, you really can't think, 'I could have had this fight.' It's OK I've got to fight Ben Rothwell now. I've got to get ready for him. ... I do feel like I will be in that position (for a title shot), so it's still no problem."

While Velasquez is attempting to capitalize on his brisk introduction to MMA, the fight could be a culmination of a meandering career for Rothwell, the Wisconsin native who has been an MMA itinerant laborer for years.

His highest-profile bout might have been his lowest moment: He was knocked out by Andrei Arlovski on the Affliction promotion's first card. He was slated to fight for Affliction again in Anaheim in August, but he signed with UFC after Affliction collapsed.

The biggest setbacks of Rothwell's career usually have been related to his irrepressible urge to stand in front of his opponents and trade blows — something that's usually a mistake at MMA's highest levels, and even more so against wrestlers with Velasquez's skills. Rothwell insists he's learned from past mistakes and will use a smarter plan, claiming his defense has improved against takedowns by wrestlers such as Velasquez.

"I want to be fighting with the guys that are the names in the UFC," Rothwell said. "You know I want to be a name in the UFC as well, and that's the only way. You've got to be in there fighting the guys that people know, so I'm very excited for the fight."