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The time table on UFC HW champion Cain Velasquez’s recovery: “Four-to-eight months”
By Zach Arnold | January 19, 2011
That’s the word relayed by Javier Mendez of American Kickboxing Academy yesterday on The Fight Radio show with Mauro Ranallo. The quotes below are individual responses to questions asked during the interview:
“He went under the knife with Dr. Sanders, a UFC doctor, in Las Vegas on Thursday. They told him that the recovery on the surgery went great. They said that they didn’t want him doing anything, any exercise or (impact) for at least over the weekend because they don’t want him sweating, you know, and you get the stitches, you know, somewhat, you know, wet and could end up going not so good for him. So, yesterday, you know, they gave him really light exercises to do like little light arm curls, you know, with his arm stationery to the side and they gave him another drill where they wanted him to keep his right hand like right by his stomach and then raise his elbow about 90% up. You know, so, I mean, that’s pretty much what they gave him to do at the present time.
“Right now, he’s in good spirits, you know. He’s just doing what he needs to do, you know. Cain is always wanting to do something, learn something, so if he’s not able to work out it will drive him stir crazy. So, he’s able to do things. As long as he’s got a plan, then he’s good. If I give him a plan and I say, OK, I want you to do this, you know, I want you to do so much footwork, I want you to do so much bobbing, etc. etc. then he’s good with that. But if you leave him alone and you don’t tell him what direction you want to go in, he could get potentially a little frustrated.
“We haven’t started (a plan) yet. I told him we’re going to meet and then we’re going to start. Once we get more about what we can or can’t do, then we’re going to start working a program for him. So, it will start this week. Probably once this week I’ll meet him once this week at night and then, you know, we’ll start doing one-on-one with him and I and then we’ll go from there. We’ll probably do it anywhere from two-to-three times a week, you know, coming the following week and etc. etc.
“(On a time table for coming back) Well, I mean, they’re saying, you know, it’s anywhere from four-to-eight months, you know. And I mean, if you look at it from the point of what’s going on, right, with Brock Lesnar and Junior (dos Santos) being the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter and then their first fight coming back, after that show, their first fight scheduled is supposedly June 1st, right? So, that being the case, provided that whoever the winner of that fight is healthy, then obviously they’re going to want another, you know, at least a two month period to train for Cain and they’re not going to want to go from one fight to the next fight, so you’re looking, you know, and even if he was ready to go sooner, you’re really not looking at him going any sooner, the soonest I think would be August and I think the latest could be as much as December.”
Javier expressed his happiness with the way things have played out with The Ultimate Fighter and where Cain’s marketability is once he returns to fighting in the UFC.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 9 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
May he’s got to be careful to let that thing heal properly. I had open rotator cuff surgery, I had two complete tears from the bone and it’s been a year later and I’m still probably only at 70%, and I did everything I was told to the T. Good luck Cain, rotator cuff recovery sucks!!
Never had rotator cuff surgery, but I did have surgery on my shoulder for a tear of the muscle that keeps the joint in place. Rehab was brutal, and like you I am not at 100%. It’s been a few years now, and I don’t think I will ever get full range of motion back in my shoulder.
If he doesn’t let it heal properly, he is going to re-injure it and be out for over a year.
You can’t mess with shoulder surgery. It needs to heal properly. Heck, he won’t even be able to make certain ranges of motion for probably a month or so….
Fedor’s management is already demanding specific drug testing for the semi-finals.
If Overeem and Fedor both win…. I don’t see this fight happening… Probably be a lot like Manny/Floyd.
Saw that too…incredible. Haven’t even had the 1st round yet and they’re already digging their heels in for the 2nd round. Glad Coker managed to really hammer out all the details on that contract re-re-negotiation this time!!!
The funny thing is that Antonio Silva was already busted for steroids…. And they haven’t made any additional demands.
Josh Barnett had been busted twice, and they never made any additional demands before their Affliction fight that ended up falling apart.
Same with Tim Sylvia. Busted for steroids and never required before their Affliction fight.
This is exactly the tactic that Mayweather has used to duck Manny.
C’mon now, Mayweather is obviously just looking to clean up the sport.
So it begins, anyone who thinks that this was going to go off without M1 holding SF hostage to get whatever they want was kidding themselves. These guys are going to drive Coker mad and i’d feel sorry for him if he didn’t ask for this to happen to him.
This is just the start if Fedor moves on each round will bring more bs and demands and if he gets to the finals then by the end M1 will probably own a piece of SF. The thing is even if Coker has enough thanks to the guys at Showtime, they’ll just go over his head and give into M1 talk about a clusterbuck.
Bellator are likely going to go head to head with Strikeforce’s Henderson-Feijao card and UFC 128, I can’t see MTV keeping them around if they don’t draw in the next season and K1 look virtually finished as well.
If they do have a Saturday timeslot, that is not good. Then again, MTV2 isn’t very good anyways.
First 4 weeks would be going up against….
WEEK 1 – Henderson/Cavalcante
WEEK 2 – Nothing
WEEK 3 – Rua/Evans
WEEK 4 – Nogueira/Ortiz
That is not the way to start off your season. I really think once the Strikeforce Grand Prix was announced, it completely took the wind out of the sails of Bellator. They are a complete afterthought in the American MMA landscape. I just don’t think there is enough room for two bigger leagues underneith the UFC. Not in ticket sales. Not in eyeballs. Not even in internet discussions.