arrest
Former UFC champion and WWE star Cain Velasquez arrested on suspicion of attempted murder
by Alex McCarthy · talkSPORTFormer UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The San Jose Police Department confirmed the 39-year-old was taken into custody on Monday following a shooting in the Bay Area of California.
The incident resulted in one male being taken to hospital with what have been described as “non-life threatening injuries”.
Velasquez is due to appear in court in California on Wednesday to face charges.
“Cain Velasquez was the suspect arrested yesterday in connection with this incident,” San Jose Police said on Twitter.
“He was booked into Santa Clara County main jail for attempted murder. The motive and circumstances surrounding this incident are still under investigation at this time.”
Velasquez was a former star of the UFC and a two-time champion.
He won his first nine mixed martial arts contests and became UFC champion in the highest weight category by stopping Brock Lesnar in the first round of their October 2010 bout.
He dropped the title to Junior Dos Santos in his next bout 13 months later but rebounded to beat the Brazilian in December 2012.
He made two successful defences, including coming out on top of a trilogy bout against Dos Santos.
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However, Velasquez was dethroned by Fabricio Werdum in June 2015 and finished with an MMA record of 14 wins and three defeats.
He ended his career on a losing note after being squashed inside 26 seconds by current UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in February 2019.
Interestingly, he ventured into professional wrestling in late 2019 and faced Lesnar once again, but in WWE.
He lost a match in under three minutes and was released a few months later after injuries had cancelled plans to use him at the Royal Rumble.