Cain Velasquez Injury: Updates on UFC Star's Knee and Return

Updates from Tuesday, Oct. 28

Head coach of the American Kickboxing Academy Javier Vasquez, where Cain Velasquez and other fighters train, appeared on The MMA Hour broadcast and discussed the UFC star's current status:

"

The surgery went well, but there was more damage than anticipated. Turns out the MCL was worse than they thought. They had to put two anchors on it, so he'll be out a little longer than anticipated because of the damage to the MCL.

We'll see. Only time will tell...Let's hope for March, April or something of that nature.

"

Updates from Friday, Oct. 24

Dave Meltzer of MMAFighting.com reported the latest on Cain Velasquez's knee injury:

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UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez underwent successful arthroscopic surgery Thursday to repair a partial tear of his meniscus. It was an injury he had been training with and was not the injury that forced him out of UFC 180 on Nov. 15 in Mexico City.

(...)

The approximate timetable is that Velasquez will be ready to train again in December, and they are targeting early March for a fight. It is rumored that UFC 184 will be on Feb. 28 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. 

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Original Text

Cain Velasquez's long-awaited return to the Octagon will have to once again be put on hold, as a knee injury will keep the heavyweight champ from appearing in UFC 180's main event.

The UFC Twitter account confirmed the news, noting Fabricio Werdum's new opponent:

Velasquez talked about the injury and apologized to the Mexican fans, via UFC.com:

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I’m so unbelievably disappointed that this happened. To say I was looking forward to fighting in Mexico for the first time is an understatement. I wanted to fight on that card so bad. Looks like it wasn’t meant to be and it’s not going to happen. I’m going to get my [right] knee fixed and get back to training as soon as I can. I’m sorry to the fans in Mexico who were expecting this fight, and I hope to be able to come down and still be a part of this historic event.

"

This is an unfortunate development, as many were looking forward to seeing Velasquez defend his title for the first time since knocking out Junior dos Santos just over a year ago.

Alas, injuries have continually limited the 32-year-old's time inside the cage. He already missed time in 2011 and 2012 with a knee injury, and his most recent extended absence was due to shoulder surgery.

As USA Today's Mike Bohn pointed out, this has been an ongoing problem for the UFC, not just Velasquez:

Werdum vs. Mark Hunt should be an intriguing battle, but the main event won't be nearly as captivating without a title on the line.