Cain Velasquez’ fighting future remains unknown.
The former UFC heavyweight champion returned from a two-and-a-half year layoff to face Francis Ngannou in the main event of February’s UFC on ESPN 1. Things didn’t go his way. He suffered a 26-second knockout loss where it appeared his knee buckled significantly as well.
With injuries obviously sapping the onetime ruler of most of his prime, it was not an encouraging sight. Then, reports arrived that he would be making his pro-wrestling debut for Mexican promotion AAA this August. All of things cast a shadow of uncertainty over Velasquez’ fighting future as it currently stands.
But according to his longtime AKA head coach Javier Mendez, there’s nothing to worry about. Mendez revealed on this week’s episode of ‘The MMA Hour’ that he has not discussed retiring in any form:
“I would say 100 percent [that is] a panic response. He hasn’t said anything. All I hear from him is he can’t wait to get back in.”
As for the knee injury, Mendez said he saw Velasquez recently and he seemed to be walking fine. The topic of retirement didn’t come up in their conversation:
“He was at Daniel Cormier’s [40th] birthday party that we all had [last month] and seemed fine,” Mendez said. “I didn’t really ask him how he was. We were just chatting about other stuff, but he was walking around fine. But I don’t know, I didn’t ask him. I figured he’d tell me if I needed to know something.”
An Illegal Shot?
All injuries aside, Mendez then revealed a claim about the loss to Ngannou that hasn’t been discussed. He claimed ‘The Predator’ actually hit Velasquez in the back of the head, leading to the finish:
“[Velasquez] wasn’t getting around too well (after the fight),” Mendez said. “But the screwed up [part] about that whole thing, originally when I saw the fight, I kept having to replay it, replay it, and I never saw what the hell happened. And I was thinking, well, what the hell? It’s just his knee gave out, right? And of course his knee gave out, right?
“But then it wasn’t until I was home and he leaves me a text message and he goes, ‘I was fine until he
“And he said that dazed him a teeny bit and that’s what started this whole sequence, and nobody ever saw it. It was an illegal shot. If the ref would’ve caught it, it would’ve been a no contest.”
Freak Accident
Mendez said it was a weird freak accident the ref simply didn’t see and no one was talking about:
“But he didn’t catch it. Hell, I didn’t catch it and I watched it over and over again. I’d made up in my mind what I thought it was — and it wasn’t. I was completely wrong. … It was one of those weird freak accidents, man. Whether intentional or not, I don’t know. All I know is that he got a hell of a shot. When you slow it down and you watch it, it was a clear shot: Illegal, back of the head. And nobody talks about that because it’s over, it’s done.”
Heartbroken
That’s just one fight, however. Overall, Mendez was simply heartbroken Velasquez was never able to fight up to his potential as the potential greatest MMA heavyweight of all-time:
“I’m honestly heartbroken,” Mendez admitted. “Here, in my opinion — this is my opinion, okay — I think he could’ve been the greatest heavyweight of all-time had none of these stupid things happened to him. I mean, there were some by his cause, some by my cause, some by just unforeseen things. And almost anybody that sees what he’s capable of doing and what he had been doing obviously knows that there’s no one like him.
“But this is an unforgiving sport, and he’s had a lot of mishaps happen to him. And like I said, some are my fault, some are his fault, some are other people’s fault. But it’s happened and we’ve just got to move forward. But, is it depressing? Yes, it is. It’s heartbreaking for me when I see these things happen to him.”
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