It seems that former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez isn’t done with fighting yet as it’s now being reported that a fight with Francis Ngannou is in the works for UFC On ESPN 1 on February 17th in Pheonix, Arizona.
If it does happen this would be the first time Velasquez has stepped into the Octagon since July of 2016 when he TKO’d Travis Browne in the first round at UFC 200.
After that Velasquez was schedule to head into a rematch with Fabricio Werdum at the end of the year, but he was forced out of the fight by the Nevada State Athletic Commission due to the fact he was suffering from bone spurs in his back at the time.
Since then the continually injury-plagued Velasquez has been sitting on the sidelines attempting to get healthy enough to make a return to action, and at 36-years-old it seems now is the time as he looks to build on his 14-2 career record and reputation as one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of all-time.
As for Ngannou, he was just a newcomer on the scene the last time Velasquez fought, but he’s since developed into one of the division’s leading stars, having punched his way to a title shot with six wins in a row to start his UFC career in style.
However, he then went on to lose his next two fights and look out-of-sorts, before returning to form with a 45 second knockout of Curtis Blaydes in China last month.
If it goes through, Velasquez Vs Ngannou is expected to headline UFC On ESPN 1, while will follow on from the UFC’s debut on the network on ESPN+ a month earlier.
