For a workout junkie such as UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez, recovery is going to be a long and difficult process. That's what his trainer, Javier Mendez, thinks about the rotator-cuff injury that, best case, could keep Velasquez on the shelf until August, and worst case, until December.
But Velasquez (9-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) isn't waiting around, Mendez today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). He's already back in the gym, and he'll begin physical therapy this week.
This morning the champion Tweeted about a leg workout and said the surgery, which was performed this past Thursday in Las Vegas, was a success.
"Back at Joe Grasso's lifting legs," he wrote. "Best place to train."
Earlier this month, Mendez told MMAjunkie.com that Velasquez had suffered a 90 percent tear of his right rotator cuff during his title-winning fight against Brock Lesnar this past October at UFC 121. Velasquez was expected to defend his title for the first time in April against Junior Dos Santos before the extent of the injury became known.
Dos Santos (12-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and Lesnar (5-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) are now expected to face off at the as-yet-unannounced UFC 131 event, which is expected for June 11 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, following turns as coaches on the 13th season of "The Ultimate Fighter." Although the UFC often puts an interim title on the line when champions are waylaid by injury, no such belt will be up for grabs when the former champ and the nearly unbeaten challenger square off.
The result of that bout will weigh heavily on the timetable for Velasquez's return, Mendez said. Six to eight months is still the working number.
"If he can heal quicker, great," Mendez said. "[The winner of Lesnar vs. Dos Santos] is going to want at least a two-month period to get ready for Cain ... provided the winner doesn't get injured. So what we're really looking at is Cain's comeback to be as early as August and as late as December."
Doctors want Velasquez to take it easy for the meantime and have given him a series of simple rehabilitation exercises to perform. Mendez said he'll have a better idea of what he can and can't do with the fighter after a conversation with the doctor who performed the surgery.
Given the champ's love for the gym, it's going to be a challenging process to keep him from rushing things.
"That's who he is," Mendez said. "The No. 1 thing he likes to do is work out. When he's not working out, he wants to spend time with his family. Other than that, he wants to be in the gym learning. If he doesn't get to do that, it will drive him stir-crazy.
"It's going to be difficult for him because I'm going to have to tell him what to do and spend time with him working little drills for later when he's fully recovered. So we'll be working on particular drills on a weekly basis."
On the other hand, the layoff presents an opportunity for improvement in strategy and possibly technique. With either Lesnar or Dos Santos waiting in the wings, there's a ton of incentive for study.
"He has to get better," Mendez said. "He set the bar. When we watched Brock, we knew what we were up against. Brock set the bar for what was needed to be champ.
"You're not going to tell me guys aren't looking at what Cain did to set the bar. They're going after it."
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