Cain Velasquez
Cain Velasquez would do well to dispose of Francis Ngannou before targeting Jon Jones. Pictured: Cain Velasquez celebrates his victory over Travis Browne during the UFC 200 event at T-Mobile Arena on July 9, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Getty Images/Rey Del Rio

Cain Velasquez is all set to return to the mixed martial arts scene when he takes on Francis Ngannou on Feb. 17 at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. It will be the first comeback to the ring since 2016 when he won over Travis Browne at UFC 200.

Even at 36 years old, the former two-time UFC Heavyweight champion believes that he has a lot left in the tank. In fact, he said that he still has enough to challenge Jon Jones and take him down.

"Jon Jones is an amazing athlete. I've watched him in all his fights. I know what he's capable of. Every guy poses a great challenge. I think he does as well,” Velasquez said in a report from TMZ Sports.

Apparently, Velasquez has been ramping up preparations against Ngannou. He has been training like crazy, and he now feels like his old self. With adrenaline flowing, the 36-year-old seems to feel that he can take on anyone at this stage.

Before looking that far, Velasquez needs to show that he still has what it takes to compete in the cage. This all starts at UFC on ESPN in a heavyweight tiff that is being branded as the clash between the greatest of all time and the freak of all freaks. Based on betting odds, Velasquez (-145) is an early favorite to prevail over Ngannou (+145).

However, Velasquez will have to be careful when he faces the Cameroonian-French fighter. Ngannou has incredible punching power -- something that led UFC top brass Dana White to compare his punches to being hit by a Ford Escort, MMA Mania reported.

That comparison hardly impressed Velasquez, who ended up mocking the whole thing. He even said that Ngannou should be offended by it and not him.

“They’re weak. Weak ass Ford Escort. Is that the best [White] could come up with? He said ‘Ford Escort, that’s it. That’s the one,’” he said.

Ngannou will try to make it two-in-a-row when he faces Velasquez. His last victory was a 45-second knockout of Curtis Blaydes, strongly answering all questions about whether or not he still had the power behind his punches.

This came about after his six-fight win streak got snapped with back-to-back losses to Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 on Jan. 20, 2018 and Derrick Lewis at UFC 226 on July 6, 2018. Will he be able to pull off a stunning KO against Velasquez next?

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