Yesterday it was the knee, today it’s an illegal punch, tomorrow it will be Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s doctor.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez, suffered a knockout loss to top contender, Francis Ngannou, in the UFC on ESPN 1 main event last weekend in Phoenix, Arizona (video).
There was some mild controversy surrounding the finish, which came after just 26 seconds of action. Velasquez claimed his knee buckled and left him slumped in a heap, whereas Ngannou insisted his short uppercut was the killing blow.
Coach Javier Mendez has a new theory.
“If you guys watch the video, the very first punch Ngannou threw at Cain, (Cain) came into shoot, he got hit in the back of the head, an illegal shot that dazed him a little bit when he went in for the takedown, and that’s what kind of jacked up his knee to start,” Mendez told Submission Radio. “So, I didn’t see that, I did not see that. And today I looked at it and said, ‘oh my god.’ And guess who told me about it? Cain. Cain was the one who told me.”
The highly-rated UFC on ESPN 1 main event was the first mixed martial arts (MMA) fight for Velasquez in well over two years and fans were unsure what to expect from the 36 year-old wrestler. That said, most of us knew what to expect from Ngannou.
Especially this guy.
“His knee went and it wasn’t caused by any punch during, it was caused from an illegal punch that caused the whole thing,” Mendez continued. “And it wasn’t intentional, it was unintentional. It wasn’t Ngannou’s intent to do that. No, he didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just that Cain went in, the punch went. I didn’t look at it as intentional, it was unintentional. So, what do you do in the circumstances like that? I don’t know.”
Despite teasing retirement before the fight, Velasquez is expected to make hisOctagon return later this year. As for Ngannou, he won’t be getting a title shot with his second-straight knockout win, but he’s certainly in the mix.