Cain Velasquez ‘rarely’ training according to coach, won’t fight soon

To close out 2016, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez looked to build momentum on his UFC 200 win over Travis Browne, which returned him to the win column following his UFC 188 loss to Fabricio Werdum. Velasquez was set to step into the Octagon for a rematch with Werdum, to determine the heavyweight #1 contender, however during the course of fight week, Velasquez’ back injury raised some questions, which resulted in the NSAC pulling him from the fight after determining that he was unfit to fight.

Velasquez had revealed during fight camp that he would need to undergo back surgery following the fight with Werdum, and that he had been using CBD Oil to manage his pain throughout training camp. With the fight scrapped, Velasquez underwent surgery this year to repair the damage. According to AKA head coach Javier Mendez, the former champ has been enjoying his time away from the sport.

He spoke to Submission Radio:

“He’s been more enjoying time with his wife and he did an AirBnb, those rentals that you rent. He’s got one in Arizona that he’s fixing up to rent, so he’s been doing that and spending time with his wife and his child. He’s been doing more family stuff. He comes in the gym on a rare occasion, but he’s slowly coming back into it. He’s not jumping on board to do anything, he’s just taking his time. I know that May 11 is something they’re looking at, but realistically Cain is not gonna fight on short notice. He’s not gonna fight without an eight-week training camp. So I look at it like if he’s hardly ever coming into the gym now because he has other business things he has to take care of, I don’t see him fighting (soon). I see him fighting two times this year, but I don’t see him fighting in May because of the timeframe.”

on 3/10/2017.