Yesterday there was a report from Tatame that, according to Junior dos Santos’ coach, Cain Velasquez had a broken hand which would force the heavyweight championship rematch back to November or December. Even though that wouldn’t be the end of the world, it appears that the rematch will be able to take place months earlier as Javier Mendez says that Cain’s hand is not broken.
“No truth,” Mendez told theScore.com about rumors the former champion has a broken hand. “They (Dos Santos’ camp) are going by the Nevada Athletic Commission’s follow up after fights. Cain told the doc after his fight that his front knuckle was bruised and all they did was give him a slip that he needed an X-ray before being cleared. Standard commission practice is all that happened and they gave him a six-month suspension until he has his X-ray to clear him. He has no injuries other than the bruise and even sparred on Monday.”
My initial reaction was that it might not be the best idea for Cain to spar that soon after a big heavyweight fight. Then I remembered how the bout actually went.
Melendez also said that Cain should be ready to go for UFC 152, making the rematch the main event with B.J. Penn vs. Rory MacDonald the co-main.
UPDATE – Ariel Helwani tweeted a video from Javier Mendez that shows Cain boxing today. Check it after the jump.