Daniel Cormier thinks had it not been for injuries, Cain Velasquez would be considered the best fighter.
Velasquez, a former UFC heavyweight champion, retired from MMA in late 2019. He was plagued with injuries from his shoulder, to his knee, and his back, which derailed some of his prime years.
A main training partner of Velasquez’s at American Kickboxing Academy, Cormier is confident his teammate could have beaten anyone had health kept up.
“I tell you, nobody wanted those Cain Velasquez problems,” Cormier told MMA Fighting. “If that dude was healthy and ready to go, I still believe he was the best fighter. Ask me, ask Khabib (Nurmagomedov), ask the guys that saw him in the gym when he was healthy and he was good. Nobody was like Cain.”
Velasquez is a former two-time UFC heavyweight champion. He finished Brock Lesnar to claim his first title in 2010 and avenged his title loss to Junior Dos Santos to capture the heavyweight belt a second time in 2012.
In his second reign, Velasquez defended his belt against Antonio Silva, and closed out his trilogy with Dos Santos by beating him a second straight time. But after the Dos Santos fight, Velasquez only competed four times over almost five-and-a-half years due to injuries.
“Think about his accolades, and he had to miss five, six years in the middle of his prime due to injury,” Cormier continued. “He was the best. I’m telling you right now, he’s one of those guys that everyone calls the best, this dude was the best. He was even better than me, for sure.”
For Cormier, Velasquez vs. Jon Jones is the fight that got away.
“That’s one we missed,” Cormier said, of Velasquez vs. Jones. “That would have been a good one.”
