Cain Velasquez is all in on his return to the Octagon.
Late last night (Dec. 21), Cain Velasquez’s return to competition was announced with Dana White confirming that Velasquez would be headlining UFC on ESPN 1 in Phoenix, Arizona opposite Francis Ngannou on February 17, 2019. Soon after, ESPN reported that Velasquez has signed a new four-fight contract with the UFC, which means, knock on wood, we should be seeing Velasquez back in the fold permanently going forward and that his fight against Ngannou is not a one-off.
Just one month ago, such a deal seemed a long ways away from being finalized, with head coach Javier Mendez saying in an appearance on Submission Radio that Velasquez’s contract was “for sale:”
“There’s contract negotiations going on that I’m not privileged to know,” Velasquez said. “But I do know that other organizations are interested in buying Cain’s contract. It’s for sale, I do know that because I was told that from somebody that’s in the know. That they were offered money to buy Cain’s contract but what’s going on, I don’t know.
“I do know that Cain has been wanting to fight this whole year, he’s been ready to fight. I know there’s negotiations, I do know that, I do know he wants to fight.”
Unfortunately, Velasquez was unable to fight for all of 2018 (and all of 2017 for that matter), but the wait to see one of the greatest heavyweights in UFC history will finally come to an end when he steps in the Octagon opposite Francis Ngannou on February 17th and, if things go as planned, three additional times after that.
What do you think Cain Velasquez will accomplish during this new four-fight contract with the UFC?
