Injured champ Velasquez addresses Dos Santos criticism, interim-title talk
LAS VEGAS – Despite the surprising protests of top contender Junior Dos Santos (12-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC), UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez (9-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) insists his recent surgery for a torn rotator cuff was not only a last resort but also completely necessary.
And while initial reports have suggested the undefeated American Kickboxing Academy product may be out for up to one year, Velasquez remains optimistic he'll need no more than six months to make a full recovery.
That said, Velasquez said he'd support UFC officials if they feel the need to institute an interim belt while he's on the sidelines.
After all, it's not an unprecedented move. When former champion Brock Lesnar was forced out for nearly 12 months in 2009 and 2010, Shane Carwin and Frank Mir met for an interim strap.
"The same thing happened when Brock was injured," Velasquez told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) at today's pre-weigh-in Q&A session. "They fought for an interim (belt).
"[The UFC] has to keep the fights going. You can't can't wait around half a year for fights. They fight all the time. It doesn't offend me at all."
Of course, as easygoing as Velasquez seems to be, Dos Santos' recent comments to Portuguese-language website Portal Vale Tudo could have easily found their way under the champion's skin.
"I'm really outraged," Dos Santos told the site. "How does a person leave a fight versus Brock Lesnar in perfect physical condition and then get hurt without being in training? The last news I heard about Velasquez, he was riding in Mexico. How did he get injured?
"I'm in the best moment of my career, training heavily and working hard to put on the fight of my life, and all of a sudden this is postponed for eight months. That's unfair."
Velasquez said he was aware of the Brazilian's comments but felt no guilt since he did everything in the proper manner.
"[The injury] happened in the Brock fight," Velasquez said. "After the fight, I felt fine. Later that night, my body starting cooling down, and my shoulder was jacked up. I knew something wasn't right. I saw the doctor and got an MRI, and he said I had a torn rotator cuff. They said, 'We'll try to do rehab first. We'll rehab it for six weeks and see how it's going.' I did that, and finally when the six weeks was up, we had another MRI. The muscle was still torn, so that said, 'We've got to have surgery. The rehab didn't help it.'
"We tried to do it without surgery so I could get back as quickly as possible, but that didn't work, so we'll do the other stuff. ... I thought I was doing the right thing by trying to get the rehab done and get healthy that way and go ahead with training. I thought I was doing a good thing."
Velasquez admits it's disappointing to suffer such a serious injury immediately after reaching the top of the UFC heavyweight mountain. Nevertheless, he's keeping a positive attitude through such a difficult time.
"It sucks," Velasquez said. "I definitely want to be as active as I can. I want to fight for the fans and everybody that wants to see me fight. I want to please you guys. It's hard, but it's part of the territory. People get hurt all the time. These things happen. You have to get surgery. This isn't my first surgery, so you've just got to do it, do what the doctors say and get back as soon as possible.
"[My doctor] said with this injury and getting surgery on it and everything else, the recovery will probably be around six months. It's a while, but hopefully I can come back 100 percent.
"It is what it is. I need surgery, and that's it. ... When I'm ready, I'll come back, and I'll fight."
An exact date for Velasquez's surgery has yet to be determined.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/21929/injured-champ-velasquez-addresses-dos-santos-criticism-interim-title-talk.mma
