Cain Velasquez Undergoes Successful Back Surgery
Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez was pulled from a rematch against another former UFC Heavyweight Champion in Fabricio Werdum at UFC 207 after the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) wouldn’t license him due to a back injury.
Javier Mendez, who is Velasquez’s head coach at the American Kickboxing Academy, says that the former champion has undergone back surgery and everything is going well.
"He had successful surgery on Wednesday,” Mendez told Ariel Helwani. “It was a minor surgery so he was walking right away. Only thing he has to do is wait until the incision heals before he can start working out. (It'll take) about one month or less for the cut to heal."
Velasquez hasn’t competed since UFC 200 in July of 2016, where he defeated Travis Browne by first round TKO.
Velasquez won the UFC Heavyweight Title twice in his career, the first time came when he defeated Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 in 2010 and he defeated Junior Dos Santos at UFC 155 in 2012 to begin his second reign. Velasquez also competed in the main event of the first ever UFC On Fox card, losing to Junior Dos Santos by first round TKO, it was also the first loss of his professional MMA career.
