Cain Velasquez, a former UFC heavyweight champion, is being hailed as one of the greatest "what-ifs" in the history of the sport. Despite achieving remarkable success during his career, the now 41-year-old veteran was plagued by injuries, leaving fans wondering what could have been.

Throughout his UFC tenure, Velasquez experienced several stints on the sidelines due to various injuries, significantly limiting his time inside the octagon. In fact, he only fought three times in a calendar year once during his UFC career and had three years, namely 2014, 2017, and 2018, where he did not compete at all.

Nonetheless, during the fleeting moments when Velasquez was in top form, he proved to be an unstoppable force in the heavyweight division. UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier, who was also Velasquez's teammate, attests to his dominance and believes Velasquez was the best in the sport when at his peak.

"I tell you, nobody wanted those Cain Velasquez problems," Cormier revealed to MMA Fighting. "If that dude was healthy and ready to go, I still believe he was the best fighter. Ask me, ask Khabib [Nurmagomedov], ask the guys that saw him in the gym when he was healthy and he was good, nobody was like Cain."

Despite his injury-plagued career, Velasquez managed an impressive 12-3 record in the UFC, including four wins in title fights. Cormier himself opted to drop down to the light heavyweight division to avoid facing Velasquez, highlighting the respect and fear his teammate commanded.

Reflecting on Velasquez's career, Cormier expressed his astonishment at the accomplishments he achieved despite missing a significant portion of his prime years due to injuries. "Think about his accolades, and he had to miss five or six years in the middle of his prime due to injury," Cormier stated. "Crazy. He was the best."

As another former champion, Cormier achieved something that Velasquez never did: capturing both the heavyweight and light heavyweight titles in the UFC. Although Velasquez never ventured into a different weight class, he did flirt with the idea of taking on another champion, briefly engaging in a friendly faceoff with Jon Jones at a UFC press conference. Cormier admitted that he, too, was intrigued by the notion and wished he could have witnessed such a matchup.

"That's one we missed," Cormier lamented. "That would have been a good one."

Cain Velasquez's impact on the sport of mixed martial arts is undeniable, but his legacy will forever be tinged with the question of what he could have achieved had he been able to remain injury-free throughout his career. Nonetheless, his impressive records, title wins, and the admiration of his peers solidify his status as one of the greatest heavyweights in UFC history.