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PHOENIX – Cain Velasquez said that it was his knee that had made him fall in his flag against Francis Ngannou.
Although Ngannou (13-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) was declared the winner by KO in their main event UFC on ESPN 1, Velasquez (14-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) said he was not hurt by blows. Instead, he said, it's his body that has let go.
"He did not even touch me," Velasquez told MMAjunkie at Talking Stick Arena in Phoenix, which hosted the televised event on ESPN. "It was just the knee. As soon as I felt the knee flex, it was as if I could not believe it had happened, and that was all. "
At the post-fight press conference, Velasquez assumed that his meniscus and his medial collateral ligament (MCL) were at the origin of the injury. He did not blame Arbitrator Jason Herzog for coming close to the first-half .26 mark when he fell on the canvas.
"The referee saw my knee loop," he said. "His job is to make sure 100% security, and he did it. The referee did the good job tonight.
Still, it was a heartbreaking turn for the former UFC heavyweight champion, who made his comeback in the octagon after being injured for nearly three years. Velasquez said that he had no problems at the training camp and that he felt good about walking in the octagon.
"Knowing what I have done for the last three years and two months in preparation for this camp, I felt ready," he said. "The octagon was the place where I needed to be and I felt very good to come back. I felt very good with him and, again, the accidental shock of the knee that came out, it's frustrating.
"We will check everything. The fire is still strong in me. I guess I have a lot to prove and I am very capable of doing it. "
Velasquez said before that a loss could result in retirement. But he was careful before making final decisions.
"We'll see what happens," he said. "I go in everything and I do my best. I think if I can be the best, I really will not do it, and that's not the case with this whole camp. It's just something that has happened. It's more frustrating for people watching me. They expect a lot from me and myself. "
After his defeat, Velasquez, a prominent former wrestler at Arizona State University, told a friendly crowd that he was too close too early to Ngannou, who had won his second consecutive victory.
"I saw all the shots that Francis was throwing. I saw his speed, and the video looked much faster than being in there. Seeing his timing, I felt good. I felt that I could go inside. I returned to the cage and my knee fell. "
For full coverage of the UFC on ESPN 1, see the UFC Events section of the site.
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