Cain Velasquez’s Coach: “Illegal Shot” Led to Star’s Quick Loss at The Hands of Francis Ngannou

Following Cain Velasquez’s devastating and quick loss to Francis Ngannou there was a lot of talk about whether an uppercut, or a blown out knee, was behind his defeat. But, now the former heavyweight champ’s coach is claiming that in fact, an illegal shot led to Velasquez’s downfall.

Velasquez faced Ngannoua at UFC Phoenix in February, and the latter proceeded to take the AKA fighter out in just 26 seconds. During the fight, Velasquez went down awkwardly, prompting questions as to whether a blown out knee was the deciding factor in the fight. Or, whether an uppercut Ngannou appeared to land sent Velasquez to the deck.

Well, recently Velasquez’s striking coach,  Javier Mendez, was a guest on “The MMA Hour”. During the interview the AKA leader had this to say about Velasquez’s quick loss (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“[Velasquez] wasn’t getting around too well (after the fight),” Mendez said. “But the screwed up [part] about that whole thing, originally when I saw the fight, I kept having to replay it, replay it, and I never saw what the hell happened. And I was thinking, well, what the hell? It’s just his knee gave out, right? And of course his knee gave out, right?

“But then it wasn’t until I was home and he leaves me a text message and he goes, ‘I was fine until he hammerfisted me in the back of the head.’ And I’m like, what? What are you talking about, hammerfist? So I replayed the goddamn video and the very first strike that was hit was an illegal shot right behind the back of the head, when he shot in. And he said that dazed him a teeny bit and that’s what started this whole sequence, and nobody ever saw it. It was an illegal shot. If the ref would’ve caught it, it would’ve been a no contest.

“But he didn’t catch it. Hell, I didn’t catch it and I watched it over and over again. I’d made up in my mind what I thought it was — and it wasn’t. I was completely wrong. … It was one of those weird freak accidents, man. Whether intentional or not, I don’t know…”

When you watch the fight, it does look like Ngannou may have indeed hit Velasquez to the back of the head, as the latter moved in for a takedown. Since it happens so fast, however, it’s pretty unlikely the foul was intentional. It would also explain why the strike likely wasn’t seen by the official.

None of this, however, takes away from the fact that Ngannou is ridiculously powerful, and that it was a massive, massive win for the contender.