UFC legend admitted he was ‘too transparent’ after having fight cancelled due to shocking admission

Cain Velasquez argued that his honesty cost him his UFC 207 fight

Many believe that Cain Velasquez could’ve been an all-time great if it wasn’t for the injuries he suffered that significantly cut short his career.

The former UFC heavyweight champion was an absolute monster on his day, but his time at the top of the sport didn’t last long.

After beating Travis Browne at UFC 200, Velasquez was scheduled to return later that year to face Fabricio Werdum, the man who beat him for the title in 2015, in a rematch.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission prevented this from taking place at UFC 207 following an interview that Velasquez did with ESPN ahead of the fight.

When speaking about the injuries that he had been dealing with during his preparations, he admitted that a pain in his right leg would get so bad that he’d have to sit down after standing up for ten minutes.

Velasquez, who was scheduled to undergo back surgery just five days after his scheduled bout with Werdum, closed out a statement on Facebook about his fight being cancelled with the following message.

“Finally, I want to say that perhaps I was too transparent in my interview but that is who I am and [I] do not intend to edit myself and especially not when my doctors and I know for a fact that I’m ready to fight. I will be the first to say when I know I can’t fight due to injury as my long-term health is my number one priority.”

Dana White wasn’t totally convinced by Cain Velasquez’s statement

Despite being frustrated that he wasn’t cleared to fight, Cain Velasquez praised the Nevada State Athletic Commission for how professional they were throughout the process.

His argument that he was too honest about what he was dealing with didn’t completely convince Dana White.

The UFC president argued that making comments like that about injuries are always going to ensure that you aren’t given the green light to compete.

“Read the interview. It doesn’t sound like he wants to fight to me,” White told MMA Junkie. “When you’re a fighter, and you do an interview days before a fight and say you can’t stand for 10 minutes, that’s insanity. First of all, this is the best organization in the world for fighting. He’s fighting one of the best fighters on Earth, and that fights last 15 minutes.”

“You know how irresponsible it would be, not only for the UFC, but for any athletic commission to allow that fight to happen? It absolutely makes no sense,” White continued. “I love Cain. Cain’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. But if you read that article, it does not sound like he wants to fight.”

Velasquez would be out of action until he returned for one last fight in February of 2019, which he lost in 26 seconds to Francis Ngannou.