PHOENIX — Cain Velasquez‘s return is officially on.
Velasquez (14-2), back after a 2 1/2-year layoff, on Saturday weighed in at 248 pounds for his non-title heavyweight bout against Francis Ngannou (12-3) at UFC Fight Night on Sunday at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
He stepped on the scale fully clothed, with shoes. The last time Velasquez fought — at UFC 200 in July 2016 — he weighed in at 242.5 pounds.
Ngannou, of Cameroon, weighed in at 258 pounds — 5 pounds less than his five-round title fight against Stipe Miocic in January 2018, and 4 pounds heavier than his most recent fight against Curtis Blaydes in November.
A two-time UFC heavyweight champion, Velasquez, who fights out of American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, took an extended break from mid-2016 to 2019 to recover from back surgery and enjoy the birth of his son, Cain Jr.
Three of the 26 fighters scheduled to compete at UFC Fight Night missed weight. Strawweight Jessica Penne and bantamweight Renan Barao each missed weight by 2 pounds and will forfeit 20 percent of their purse. Bantamweight Manny Bermudez missed his mark by 4 pounds, and will forfeit 30 percent.