Arizona native and ASU wrestling alum Cain Velasquez waited 953 days to make his return to the octagon.
His return ended faster than the time it takes to watch a pair of Instagram Stories.
Fighting in front of his home-state fans, Velasquez was defeated by Francis Ngannou via knockout in 26 seconds in the main event of UFC on ESPN at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix. Velasquez's knee appeared to buckle just a few seconds in, and the referee called the fight as Ngannou pummeled Velasquez with punches.
Velasquez, a Yuma native and two-time UFC heavyweight champion, made his return after a two-plus-year layoff due to injury. Ngannou came in as UFC's No. 3 ranked heavyweight.
After the match, Velasquez, who was the favorite to win the fight, congratulated Ngannou and apologized to the fans who cheered loudly for him when he entered the arena.
