Cain Velasquez 'can't provide definitive timeline' on return, but eyes one of UFC 211's winners

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Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez wants to return to the octagon as soon as possible. However, he said he won’t accept a fight unless he feels 100 percent confident he can make it through a training camp without suffering a serious injury.

Velasquez’s (14-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) career has been ravaged by injuries, especially in recent years. The two time UFC titleholder has competed just twice in the past 40 months and recently underwent a back surgery that forced him to withdraw from a scheduled rematch with Fabricio Werdum at UFC 207 in December.

The surgery was the latest in the long line of injuries for Velasquez, which range from his back to his rotator cuff to his knees. His longest layoff lasted nearly two years, but each time he’s been able to get healthy enough to make a return to the octagon.

He intends on making that happen again, but as the 34-year-old revealed in freshly written statement to his fans on Twitter today, he’s not going to go through the process of accepting and training for a fight unless he’s confident he’ll make it to the octagon. For that reason, he’s not putting a precise timeframe on his return.

Velasquez, No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings, was most recently seen at UFC 200 this past July when he earned a one-sided first-round TKO over Travis Browne. The loss was his bounce back fight from losing the title to Werdum at UFC 188 in June 2015.

Although many viewed Velasquez as having the potential to be one of the best heavyweights ever, his inability to remain healthy has forced the division to move on without him. Current champ Stipe Miocic next defends the title against Junior Dos Santos at UFC 211 in May, while former champ Werdum is also expected to compete on the card. The situation regarding his opponent is still in flux after Ben Rothwell was recently informed of a potential U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) violation.

Velasquez said in his statement he would be keeping a close eye on UFC 211 when the event goes down May 13 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, and he views it likely that he could face one of the big winners to come out of that event.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.