Cain Velasquez was suppose to face Fabricio Werdum in the main event for UFC 180 but the Mexican-American UFC heavyweight champion was forced to back out from the match because of a knee injury.
Velasquez was then replaced by Mark Hunt. Because he was not able to be inside the octagon, he watched the game instead from cage side.
According to Velasquez "Hunt came out and stuck to his game plan pretty good; defended the takedowns and I think won most of the stand-up in the first round. He just got caught with that knee. It just shows that Fabricio does everything and he does everything well. He spins. He spin-kicks. He knees, throws elbows. He does everything well,"
Even though Velasquez has already trained himself to face Werdum, it does not matter to him who he faces next. He said "To me, it just never matters. I don't really care who I fight as long as it's the better guy."
According to Velasquez, it was not easy to watch the fight between Werdum and Hunt. He said "It kind of really sunk in as the guys were coming out. That's when it really sunk in. It was hard. At that moment I was like, no, this should be me coming out. But things happen for some reason. I don't know what, but I just think about the positives, focus on getting better and that's it."
During the UFC Post Show, UFC President Dana White had said that if Velasquez would again be sidelined by another injury, there is a bigger possibility of him being stripped of his title.
To this he commented "It doesn't matter to me. I don't care. As long as I fight, the next fight will be for a title. And I'm happy with that. I don't really care of having that title. The name that comes with it, I don't really care. As long as I fight for a title and I earn it."
As of now, he could not say as to when he will be able to play once more as he is still recovering from his injury and the surgery after that. But this is what he had to say "I'm going to do everything I can. Just play it by ear. Do everything I can as far as rehab and getting it better. That's all I can do."
