Nobody should get their hopes up about former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez returning to the cage.
Velasquez surprised fight fans two weeks ago when he appeared at the Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano ceremonial weigh-ins to oversee the final faceoffs for the heavyweight fights between Francis Ngannou and Philipe Lins, as well as Robelis Despaigne vs. Junior Dos Santos. While Velasquez’s involvement in the massive event might lead some to believe he’d be interested in competing again, they’d be sorely mistaken.
Advertisement
“The money has to make me want to do it because, I’ve said this before, I don’t want to do it,” Velasquez said on the “Weighing In” podcast with Josh Thomson. “I have other interests now. But the money really has to make me want to do it, and I don’t think anybody is willing to pay that.”
Besides, at 43 and having not competed since 2019, Velasquez is a realist about how he’d fare.
“I mean, I can always (fight again), but to what degree is something different, as well,” said Velasquez, who laughed off the idea of an opponent wish list. “Of course, we could always do it. But to what degree are you doing it at?”
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MAY 15: Ceremonial Weigh-Ins for Netflix’s MVP MMA 1 at Intuit Dome on May 15, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix)
Even though Velasquez occasionally has spent time at American Kickboxing Academy helping younger fighters, he made it clear that even coaching wouldn’t be an avenue back into the sport.
Advertisement
“In that way, I don’t. It doesn’t interest me anymore,” Velasquez said. “I get so into what I’m doing that, whatever you want to call it, it doesn’t do it for me anymore.”
Velasquez paroled in February to conclude a 10-month prison term after he pleaded no contest to an attempted murder charge on a man accused of molesting his son.
Velasquez’s last fight came in February 2019 when he was knocked out by Ngannou in 26 seconds to close out his UFC career after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Cain Velasquez really has no interest in MMA comeback
