Coach believes ‘mishaps’ have kept Cain Velasquez from becoming the heavyweight GOAT

Cain Velasquez is one of the best heavyweights in MMA history. Thanks to a handful of tough losses at key points in his career, however, it’s difficult to argue with certainty that he is the best heavyweight in the sport’s history.

Speaking on a recent episode of The MMA Hour, Coach Javier Mendez opened up on the “mishaps” that have kept Cain Velasquez from asserting himself as the irrefutable heavyweight GOAT.

“Here, in my opinion, I think he could’ve been the greatest heavyweight of all time had none of these stupid things happened to him,” Mendez said (transcript via MMA Fighting). “I mean, there were some by his cause, some by my cause, some by just unforeseen things. And almost anybody that sees what he’s capable of doing and what he had been doing obviously knows that there’s no one like him.

“But this is an unforgiving sport, and he’s had a lot of mishaps happen to him. And like I said, some are my fault, some are his fault, some are other people’s fault. But it’s happened and we’ve just got to move forward. But, is it depressing? Yes, it is. It’s heartbreaking for me when I see these things happen to him.”

The good news for Cain Velasquez fans is that, according to Javier Mendez, the former champion isn’t done yet. Which means that, in theory, he can still potentially establish himself as the heavyweight GOAT.

“He was at Daniel Cormier’s [40th] birthday party that we all had [last month] and seemed fine,” Mendez said. “I didn’t really ask him how he was. We were just chatting about other stuff, but he was walking around fine. But I don’t know, I didn’t ask him. I figured he’d tell me if I needed to know something.

“He hasn’t said anything. All I hear from him is he can’t wait to get back in.”

Where do you think Cain Velasquez ranks among the best heavyweights ever?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 4/5/2019.