Ex-champ Velasquez completes back surgery, ready for full-time training in '4 to 5 weeks'

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez said he anticipates a complete and full recovery after receiving back surgery on Monday.

Velasquez (13-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) went under the knife to remove bone spurs that were pinching his sciatic nerve. The injury forced him out of a scheduled title bout with Fabricio Werdum (20-5-1 MMA, 8-2 UFC) at the event now titled UFC Fight Night 82, which takes place Saturday at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena.

UFC President Dana White said last week that despite Velasquez requiring surgery, the recovery period would only keep him on the sidelines for roughly one month.

After undergoing the procedure, Velasquez said in a post on his official Facebook page that the timeframe mentioned by White was on point. He said the surgery went will and plans to return to full-contact training no later than mid-March.

Velasquez’s career has been decimated by injury in recent years. He spent nearly two years on the sidelines after concluding his championship-fight trilogy with Junior dos Santos at UFC 166 in October 2013.

He finally returned to competition at UFC 188 in June, where he suffered a third-round submission loss to Werdum to drop the title. He was granted an immediate rematch with the Brazilian, but with less than two weeks until the fight, Velasquez was again struck by the injury bug.

Injuries are never welcome by fighters, especially ones that have been through the physical trauma of Velasquez. Compared to some of his past setbacks, though, the former two-time heavyweight champ seems highly optimistic about a comeback.

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