Daniel Cormier: Cain Velasquez aiming to make ‘longer, sustained run’ upon return

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier confirms teammate Cain Velasquez has been back in training, and plans to be more active upon his return.

Over the last four years of his career, Cain Velasquez has fought a mere four times. He was supposed to face Fabricio Werdum in a rematch at UFC 207 in December last year, but was forced off the card due to a back injury.

During Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier revealed that his teammate has been back in training. Velasquez himself also confirmed it through a photo he posted on social media.

Cormier also admitted that Velasquez may have overtrained, which led to his constant injuries. But this time, team AKA promises that the former heavyweight champion will remain more active than he was in recent years.

“When you start dealing with some of the injuries that Cain has had, and I’ve seen this since wrestling — backs and necks and all those types of injuries — man, it takes time to recover,” Cormier told Ariel Helwani (via MMA Fighting). “And I think, for a long time, Cain may have pushed himself when he should’ve rested, and I believe this time he’s actually taken the time to try to let himself heal, and I feel like this will be a chance for him to make a long, sustained run, much longer than he really has over the course of his career.”

Cormier adds that it was as if Velasquez was never sidelined, as they pick up from where they left off in the gym.

“He’s back to training, and it hurts, but nothing’s felt better for a long time,” Cormier said of his recent training experience with Velasquez. “It does suck to have to go in there and work with Cain because he’s so much better than everybody else that’s ever been around, but it’s good to have him, man.”

“Just seeing him back doing what he loves to do, it’s amazing as a friend and as a fan of mixed martial arts, because if Cain gets back, you guys know what he does for the heavyweight division. He makes for some very, very interesting and fun fights.”

Velasquez last saw action in July 2016 at UFC 200, where he won via first-round TKO against Travis Browne, along with the Performance of the Night bonus.

Cormier’s interview begins at the 1:32:32 mark of the video below.