Cain Velasquez Says He’s Glad He Took Two Years Off

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Cain Velasquez said that he’s glad he took two years off from fighting in order to focus on his family and getting healthy. He will fight Francis Ngannou at UFC on ESPN 1 on February 17. He hasn’t competed since he beat Travis Browne at UFC 200. Here are highlights:

On returning to Arizona: “It’s the fight in Phoenix. It’s the fight here in Arizona. I’m from Yuma, Ariz. I went to school out here. I went to Arizona State. I competed in Arizona my whole life. I love competing out here, being from Arizona. I’ve always wanted to fight here, as well. Just to have the opportunity to be here and fight in front of my family and friends, to me is just an amazing card to be a part of. I can’t wait for that night.”

On his hiatus: “I’ve had some injuries throughout my career; I got that all squared away and all healed up, and I extended my family, as well. We have a 1-year-old boy. I wanted to be there for the whole pregnancy, for the whole first year. It was kind of hard when we had our daughter. … There was a lot of stuff that I missed that I didn’t like missing. So with the time off, I just got to be with my family. There isn’t a lot of people who can take time off for two years, but I had that luxury, and I wanted to be there for my family, which to me was most important. I’m glad I did it. I love just having the time to be there for them.”

On returning to the cage: “The game is to improve. I’m always looking to improve. I’ve been in the game for a while, but there’s always room for improvement. You’re just never satisfied – well, at least I’m not. I have the fight against Ngannou, I’ve got to go out there, and he presents a lot of dangers, so there’s a lot of things I have to be really tight on my game when I go out there and fight. I’m ready for that.”