What did Cain Velasquez say about losing to Junior dos Santos?

Cain Velasquez said his first loss in MMA, a quick knockout by Junior dos Santos, came while his knee was too injured to kick or wrestle, and that he rushed into the fight rather than let anyone down. He said his father stopped watching his fights after it. For the rematch he said he went to a dark place mentally, ready to keep pressure on for all 25 minutes, and he called his fights with dos Santos his masterpiece.

• Velasquez said his last loss before dos Santos had been in college wrestling.
• Velasquez said his final UFC fight in 2019 ended in a quick knockout that tore everything in his knee except the ACL.

▸In their words

“the fights with him were like my masterpiece” Cain Velasquez · at 2:12:56 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Shawn Ryan Show (2026-10-29). Read the whole episode summary →

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